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DEMOCRACY  UNVEILED, 

OR, 

T  T  R  A  N  N  T 

STRIPPED  OF  THE 
GARB  OF  PATRIOTISM. 


BY  CHRISTOPHER  CAUSTIC,  L.  L.  D. 
4-c.  Sfc.  Sfc.  Sfc.  ftc.  Sfc.  Sfc.  Sfc.  Sfc. 


icut  oinne  retcxit. 


You  rogues  !  you  rogues  !  you're  al!  found  out 
And,  "  WE  THE  PEOPLE,"  I've  no  doubt, 
Will  put  a  period  to  your  dashing, 
And  honest  men  will  come  .in  iaihicn. 


IN    TWO    VOLUMES.       VOL.    I. 


THIRD  EDITION,  WITH  LARGE  ADDITIONS. 


NEW-YORK: 

\ 

PRINTED  FOR  I.  HILEY,  fy  CO. 


DISTRICT  OF  NEW-YORK.    SS. 

fTT§  ~RE  IT  REMEMBERED,  That  on  the  Fifth 

Su»«^§  -'"'day  of  December,  in  the  Tliirtieth  year  of 

the  Independence   of  the  United   States  of  America, 

THOMAS  GREEN  FESSENDEN,  of  the  said  district,  hath 

deposited  in  this  office  the  title   of  a  book,    the  right 

whereof  he  claims  as  proprietor,  in  the  words  and  figures 

following,  to  wit, 

"  Democracy  Unveiled,  or  Tyranny  Stripped 

"  of  the  Garb  of  Patriotism. 
"By  CHRISTOPHER  CAUSTIC,  L.  L.  D.  &c.  &c.  &c. 

&c.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c. 
"  Cascum  domus  scelu-s  omnv  rdexit. 
"  You  rogues !   you  rogues  !  you're  all  found  out 
"  And  "  \Ve,  the  People,"  I've  no  doubt, 
"  Will  put  a  period  to  your  dashing, 
"  And  honest  men  will  come  in  fashion. 
"  In  Tzvo  Volumes,  Vol.  I.     Third  Edition,  Kith  large 

"  Additions. 

IN  CONFORMITY  to  the  Act  of  Congress  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  entitled  "  An  Act  for  the  encouragement  of 
Learning,  by  securing  the  Copies  of  Maps,  Charts  and 
Books  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies  during 
the  times  therein  mentioned,"  and  also  to  an  act,  entitled 
"  An  Act,  Supplementary  to  an  Act,  entitled  "  An  Act 
for  the  encouragement  of  Learning,  by  securing  the  co- 
pies of  Maps,  Charts  and  Books  to  the  Authors  and  Pro- 
prietors of  such  copierduring  the  times  therein  mention- 
ed ;  and  extending  the  benefit  thereof  to  the  Arts,  De- 
signing, Engraving,  and  etching  Historical  Prints." 

EDWARD  DUNSCOMB, 
Clerk  of  the  District  of  Nev:  York. 


M 

Annex 

preface.         r 


W, 


ITH  a  solicitude  to  contribute  to  the  amount 
of  what  my  exertions  can  effect,  for  the  welfare  of  iny 
country,  I  have  ventured  to  appear  before  the  Tribunal 
of  the  American  Pulftc,  in  the  character  of  an  author. 
I  hope  I  shall  receive  credit  for  the  assertion,  when  I  as- 
sure my  countrymen,  that  my  motives  arise1  from  a  clet  p 
conviction,  that  our  civil  and  political  rights — ALL  that 
can  stamp  a  value  on  Society — are  menaced  by  bad  men 
now  dominant,  and  bad  principles,  inculcated  by  the  de- 
magogues and  philosophistsof  the  day. 

I  am  fully  aware,  that  this  publication  will  make  rae 
not  a  few  inveterate  personal  enemies;  but  a  wish  to  be 
serviceable  to  my  country,  is  paramount  to  every  oth'er 
consideration. 

I  have  indeed  shown  but  little  lenity  to  those  m«n 
whom  I  have  thought  deserving  of  the  lash.  But  I  Ivave 
been  cartful  to  bring  forward  no  "  railing  accusation" 
against  an)  man  ;  and  I  am  confident  that  these  volumts 


PREFACE. 


eontain  nothing  which  is  calculated  to  convey  incorrect 
ideas  of  our  public  men  and  public  measures. 

In  our  Government,  time  was  not  allowed  for  the  con- 
solidation of  its  parts,  nor  was  the  value  of  the  "  machine" 
fairly  tested  by  being  put  completely  in  motion,  before 
our  Gallatins  began  to  clog  "  its  wheels,"  and  our  Kan* 
dolphs  and  Nicholsons  now  threaten  to  pull  it  to  pieces, 
and  to  throw  us  into  a  state  of  society  bordering  on  that 
of  the  savage.  An  exposition  of  their  arts  is  absolutely 
incumbent  on  every  man  who  possesses  the  means  of  in- 
formation, and  who  holds  the  pen  of  a  writer. 

The  people  cannot  be  materially  injured  in  their  inter- 
est, unless  they  are  deceived,  and  they  cannot  long  1-e 
deceived,  if  as  great  efforts  are  made  to  enlighten  them 
by  their  true  friends,  as  by  their  pretended  friends  to  keep 
them  in  ignorance.  It  would  be,  indeed,  a  most  infamous 
aspersion  on  the  People  of  the  United  States,  to  insinuate, 
that  if  they  had  known  that  many  men  who  now  fill  the 
highest  offices  in  government,  were  destitute  of  common 
honesty,  they  would  have  honoured  them  with  their  su& 
frages.  Yet  it  is  a  fact,  that  the  characters  of  many  of 
them  are  stained  with  crimes  of  the  deepest  dies,  and  in- 
stead of  being  placed  at  the  head  of  government,  they 
deserve  to  be  arraigned  at  the  bar  of  justice. 

With  respect  to  the  manner  in  which  I  have  executed 
this  Poem,  1  am  sensible  1  shall  not  escape  the  shafts  of 


PREFACE. 


the  small  critics,  and  doubtless,  my  faults  will  deserve  the 
animadversion  of  those  who  are  qualified  successors  of 
Longinus.* 

"  But  do  I  then,  (abjuring  every  aim) 
AH  censure  slight,  and  all  applause  disclaim? 
Not  so :  where  Judgment  holds  the  rod,  I  bow 
My  humble  neck,  awed  by  her  angry  brow." 

GIFFORD. 

I  have  divided  the  poetry,  although  of  the  Hudibrastic 
kind,  into  four-line  stanzas.  For  this  singularity  I  am  not 
positive  I  can  justify  myself.  The  division  appeared  U> 
me  to  give  the  work  an  apophthegmatical  appearance, 
and  to  facilitate  the  reading,  and  by  (if  I  may  be  allowed 
an  Americanism)  locating  each  line  with  more  precision 
than  would  otherwise  be  done,  to  assist  the  memory  of 
the  reader. 


*  Gentlemen  of  this  description  should  not,  however, 
pronounce  a  verdict  without  a  proper  attention  to  the 
merits  of  the  cause.  A  Reviewer,  in  that  respectable 
publication,  the  B)ston  Monthly  Anthology,  trips  a  little, 
in  supposing  that  we  have  stumbled  on  an  Anachronism. 

"  In  the  next  Canto,  Mob.icracy,"  he  tells  us,  "  is  an 
Anachronism  of  so  little  use  that  perhaps  the  author,  so 
far  from  intending  to  derive  advantage  from  it,  in  the 
hurry  of  composition,  did  not  observe  it.  The  rebrl'.i  >u 
of  1786  is  represented  as  one  of  the  consequences  of  that 
spirit,  excited  by  the  revolutionary  proceedings  in  France." 

A2  ir 


PREFACE. 


I  am  likewise  aware,  that  I  shall  be  accused  of  puns, 
allitera  ions,  iterations,  and  other  deviations  from  the 
precise  path  in  which  their  reverences,  the  Critics,  would 
fain  have  me  walk. 

"  With  these  grave  fops,  who,  (bless  their  brains) 
Most  cruel  to  themselves,  take  pains 
For  wretchedness,  and  would  be  thought 
Much  wiser  than  a  wi?e  man  ought 
For  his  own  happiness  to  be, — 
"Who  what  they  hear,  and  what  they  see, 
And  what  .they  smell,  and  taste,  and  feel, 
Distrust,  "  till  Reason  sets  the  seal."— 


If  the  gentleman  will  examine-  that  Canto  more  min- 
utely, he  will  perceive  that  the  spirit  of  the  rebellion  of 
1786  is  represented  as  preparing  the  way  for  the  introduc- 
tion of  French  revolutionary  principles.  It  is  true  that 
the  events  alluded  to  in  the  Poem  are  not  set  down  in 
chronological  order,  for  that  was  not  possible  without  des- 
troying the  connection  of  the  Poem.  The  following  lines 
•will  furnish  him  with  a  clue  to  the  labyrinth  of  which  he 
complains: 

"  Now,  certain  causes,  most  untoward, 
Prepared  the  people  to  be  fro  ward,"  &c. 

[P.  59,  1st  &2d  edition. 

After  stating,  among  those  causes,  the  half  extinguish- 
ed fire  of  rebellion  in  Massachusetts,  the  Poem  proceeds: 

"  The  smouldering  flame  in  secret  burn'd, 
When  Jefferson  from  France  return'd/'  &c. 

[P.  64,  1st  &  2d  edition. 


PREFACE. 


With  whom 

"  Not  one  idea  is  allow'd 
To  pass  unquestion'd  in  the  crowd, 
But  ere  it  can  obtain  a  place 
Of  holding  in  the  brain  a  place 
Before  the  Chief  in  congregation, 
Must  stand  a  strict  examination,"^ 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  reason,  but  quietly  await  their 
sentence. 

£  CHURCHILL. 


introduction 


THE   THIRD   EDITION. 


JL  HE  foregoing  prefatory  remarks  were  writteu 
for  the  first  edition  of  the  following  Poem.  The  addi- 
tions made  to  this  impression,  having  doubled  the  size 
of  the  work,  seem  to  require  additional  observations  of  an 
introductory  nature.  Some  strictures,  remarks,  and  hints 
for  the  improvement  of  this  Poem,  which  were  proffered 
on  the  appearance  of  the  first  edition,  present,  likewise, 
claims  to  attention,  which  I  now  respectfully  beg  leave  t» 
acknowledge,  and  will  attempt  to  cancel. 

I  have  been  accused  of  undue  severity  in  the  applica- 
tion of  my  satirical  scourge ;  and  some  have  affirmed 
that  I  appear  disposed  rather  to  scarify  than  to  chastise  in 
a  reasonable  manner  those  culprits,  who  are  so  unfortunate 
as  to  come  under  my  lash.  To  such  a  charge  I  would 
reply  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Gifford,  in  his  description 
of  Anthony  Pasquin,  that  some  of  the  subjects  of  the 
following  satire  are  «'  so  lost  to  every  sense  of  decency  and 


INTRODUCTION.  i* 

shame,  as  to  be  Jitter  objects  for  ilie  ltea.dk  than  the 
muse."  Emollients,  palliatives  and  even  gentle  caustics 
avail  nothing  when  a  gangrene  has  taken  place ;  but 
when  less  powerful  escharotics  prove  ineffectual,  perhaps 
the  due  application  of  Lapis  Infernalis  may  preserve  a 
defective  limb  from  amputation. 

To  those  whom  I  have  thought  myself  in  justice  bound 
to  expose  on  the  Gibbet,  I  have  no  other  apology  to  makp 
for  the  treatment  they  have  experienced  than  is  contained 
in  the  following  couplets: 


"  Enfin  ton  impudence 

Temeraire  Viellard  ?  aura  sa  recompense."* 

"  Miscreant,  the  scourge  which  you  to  dayer.dure, 
Cuts  to  the  bone-r-but  then  it  cuts  to  cure."f 


Those  men,  who  hare  "set  the  country  ar.d  c<v 
tion  in  a  b!aze"§  have  no  right  to  expect  any  thing  emin- 
ently civil  in  return  for  such  a  favour.  The  Duanos,  the 
Cherlhams,  and  the  P..squms  of  our  distracted  country 
are  as  little  entitled  to  that  civility  which  regulates  t!i« 
intercourse  of  gcntleiucn,  as  a  re  a  band  of  night-prowling 
banditti  to  the  courtesy  of  chivalry. *[ 

*  J3oilcau.          f  Gijjbrd.         §  lion  Fisher  Ames. 
^f  "  In  a  state  of  refinement  an  avoidance  in  "company, 


x  INTRODUCTION. 

It  has  likewise  been  urged  that  I  have  displayed  but 
little  of  the  "  spirit  of  poetry"§  in  this  production  ;  have 
not  poured  from  my 


Big  breast's  prolific  zone, 


A  proud  poetic  fervour,  only  known 
To  souls  like  theirs." 


a  look  of  contempt,  a  silent  glance  of  imagination  may 
prove  a  sufficient  restraint  to  a  person  susceptible  of  the 
nicer  feelings"*  ;  but  a  horde  of  C'a'inucks,  or  a  gang  of 
Democrats  must  be  disciplined  with  more  severity. 

*  CHIPMAN'S  "Principles  of  Government" 

§  So  says  a  writer  in  I  he  Baltimore  Evening  Post  of  July 
24th,  1805.  My  excuse  for  taking  notice  of  such  a  com- 
pound of  malice  and  stupidity  may  Leiouncl  in  page  7th 
note  1 1th  of  the  following  work.  An  English  Satirist,  iu 
apologizing  for  having  stooped  to  attack  a  malignant 
scribbler,  declared,  in  substance,  that  it  was  not  consistent 
with  the  true  interests  of  literature  that  ignorant  and  ma- 
licious blockheads  of  that  description  should  be  forgot- 
ten— that  they  i>ught  to  be  gibbetted  for  the  scorn  of  the 
wise  and  the  terror  of  fools. 

I  should  not,  however,  have  been  induced  by  t\K  Jolly 
merely  of  this  Baltimore  Evening  Post  man  to  expose 
him,  but  his  sheer  knavery,  demands  the  lash.  A  wit- 
ling, who  will  misquote  irom  an  author,  in  order  to  find 
fault  with  absurdities  winch  did  not  originally  exist,  but 
were  manufactured  by  the  critic  for  the  occasion,  would 
net  hesitate  to  commit  any  other  speciesof  forgery,  could 
he  hope  to  do  it  with  impunity. 

Alter  a  quantum  sujficit  of  prefatory  nonsense,  in  which, 
among  other  tilings,  lie  hugs  hiniadf  tor  his  sagacity  in 


INTRODUCTION.  xi 


Or,  in  oilier  woods,  have  exhibited  no  signs  of  that  mad- 
ness, which  half-wits  mistake  for  poetic  inspiration.    To 


not  calling  '•'  quotations"  "  criticisms,"  he  vaults  upon 

his  Pegasus. 

That  limps  along,  so  heavy  moulded, 

That  Sternhold's  self  seems  out-Steruholded. 

Here  they  go ! 

"  Otiier  folks  shall  sound  his  fame  N 

Who  have  or  have  not  heard  his  name, 
Ages  unborn  shall  chaunt  his  praise, 
And  J3  litter's  self  begin  the  lays." 

He  next  accuses  the  author  of  Democracy  Unveiled  of 
tautology,  because  tlicoriaed  and  theorising'ovth  occur  in 
the  same  Canto  ! 

This  man  would,  no  d.mbt,  have  proved  Pope  a  mast 
egregious  tautologist,  for  he  says, 

"  Where  wigs  with  wigs,  with  sword-knots  sword-knots 

strive, 
Beaux  banish  beaux,  and  coaches  coaches  drive." 

"  Of  various  habit  and  of  various  die,"  &c. 

This  formidable  Critic  proceeds  to  pass  sentence  of  con- 
demnation upon  the  rhymes,  which  happen  not  to  suit  hrs 
fancy.  This  is  a  specimen  of  his  carping: 

"  Philosophists,  Iliuminati, 
Beings  of  whom  at  any  rate  I." 

*'  If  you  sound  (savs  he)  the  'a' in  'iiluminati'  as  in 
'  far'  you  will  be  sure  not  to  make  a  rhyme." 

In  justification  of  this  rhyme  I  shall  not  rely  on  the  li- 
cence allowed  in  Iludibrastic  verse,  but  shall  give  exam- 
ples of  greater  liberties  taken  by  the  best  architect  of 
rhymes  among  the  English  I'oets. 

"  Of  man,  what  see  we  but  his  station  here, 
From  which  to  reason  or  to  which  refer-" 


xii  INTRODUCTION. 


such  I  would  beg  again  to  reply  in  the  words  of  Mr. 

Gilford: 


"  My  lays 

That  wake  no  envy,  and  invite  no  praise, 
Half  creeping,  and  half  flying,  yet  suffice 
To  stagger  impudence  and  ruffle,  vice." 


«  Pleas'd  to  the  last  he  crops  the  flowery  food, 
And  licks  the  hand  just  rais'd  to  shed  his  blood-" 
"  O  blindness  to  thu-  future  !  kindly  given, 
That  each  may  fill  the  circle  mark'd  by  /tearcn," 

."  Oh  thou  !  whatever  title  please  thine  ear, 
Dean,  Drapier,  liuckcrstaff,  or  Guliircr !" 

Now  will  this  mole-eyed  scribbler  pretend  that  Popt  did 
not  understand  rhyming  ;  or  would  he  have  us  believe 
that  the  rhyme*  must  be  more  exact  in  Iludibrastic  poe- 
try, than  in  English  Hexameter. 

Again  he  informs  us  that  "now  how"  and  "  po-* 
wow,"  manage  ill,  and  "angel,"  "srd'.i'itv"  ;m;l  "cre- 
dulity," "  Louisiana"  and"  rainy,"  "Calcutta"  and  "  a- 
buut  a,"  "  nation"  and  "  oppugnation,"  "  treatv"  and 
"  yet  he,"  are  bad  rhymes. 

But  we  find  such  licences  can  be  justified  by  the 
authority  of  authors  of  acknowledged  merit,  who  have 
written  the  same  species  of  poetry. 

In  liudibras  we  have  the  following: 

"  When  pulpit,  drum  ecclf.tia.ttic 
Was  beat  with  fist  instead  of  a  stick," 


INTRODUCTION. 


Or,  if  my  own  language  will  be  acceptable,  I  will  repeat 
what  I  once  before  observed,  when  engaged  in  hunting 
down  certain  demagogues. 

Although  my  rambling  muse,  so  airy, 

Is  wild  as  Oberon  the  fairy, 

Her  ladyship  is  forc'd  to  stoop, 

To  hit  the  Jacobinic  group, 

Must  dig,  and  delve  or  take  her  aim 

A  thousand  leagues  above  her  game. 


"  Quarrel  with  minc'd  pies  and  disparage 
Their  best  and  dearest  friend,  plumb  porridge." 
•'  Thus  was  he  gifted  and  accoutred, 
\Ve  mean  on  th' inside  not  the  outward." 

"  It  doth  behove  us  to  say  something 

Of  that  which  bore  our  valiant  bumpkin." 

"  The  bear  is  safe  and  out  of  peril, 

Though  lugg'd  indeed  and  wounded  very  ill." 

"  They  count  a  vile  fcbommAlfon, 
But  not  to  slaughter  a  whole  mition." 

Instances  of  similar  licences  may  be  produced  from 
Prior,  Swift  and  Huddesford  ;  but  I  forbear  to  enlarge; 
and  should  not  have  troubled  the  reader  with  these  re- 
inaiks  had  I  not  heard  such  objections  urged  by  critics  of 
more  respectability  than  this  Baltimore  dabbler :  But  the 
malignity  discovered  by  the  misquotations  shows  that  in 
him  the  heart  of  a  jacobin  is  united  with  the  head  of  a 
sciolist. 

In  the  first  editions  of  Democracy  Unveiled  the  fol- 
lowing couplet  occurs: 

B 


INTRODUCTION, 


I  have  preferred  rhyme  as  a  vehicle  of  my  sentiments, 
chiefly,  because  I  could  express  more,  and  impress  certain, 
axioms,  with  more  energy  in  the  same  number  of  words  in 
rhyme  than  in  prose.  But  flights  of  fancy  were  out  of 
the  question  in  wading  through  the  disgusting  details  of 
individual  enormity,  which  an  attention  to  my  subject 
rendered  necessary.  For  the  abundant  use  which  I  have 
made  of  notes,  I  have  the  example  of  some  of  the  best 
English  satirists,  and  may,  perhaps,  be  allowed  the  apolo- 


Is  it  not  true,  he  left  no  stones 
Unturn'd  for Gabriel  Jones. 

The  horizontal  stroke,  was  intended  to  supply  the  place 
of  a  word  descriptive  of  Jefferson's  conduct  in  his  transac- 
tion with  Mr.  Jones.  But  this  honest  critic  has  ndsqjtoted 
the  couplet  by  leaving  out  the  stroke,  and  dt-chred  that 
the  defect  was  in  the  poem  as  it  originally  stood  ! 

Again  he  misquotes  tlie  following  couplet : 

*'  A  single  Jacobin,  or  scarce  one 

Wore  mischievous  than  this  said  parson ," 

the  last  word  of  which  he  ha*  altered  to  "person,"  in 
order  to  find  fault  with  the  rhyme. 

He  next  states  what  is  not  true  about  theEnglishRevievs 
of  "Terrible  Tractoration,"  which  he  says  "  the  English 
Reviewers  mention  in  very  vague  terms  indeed."  The 
testimonies  subjoined  to  this  work  will  show  i\\e falsehood 
of  that  assertion.  But  J  wash  my  hands  of  this 

"  Unfinished  thing,  one  knows  not  what  to  call, 

His  generation's  so  equivocrt/  ;"* 

and   if  his  folly  is  not  superior  to  his  malignity,  he  will 
keep  out  of  my  path  in  future. 

*  Pope's  Essay  on  Criticism, 


INTRODUCTION. 


gy  of  the  author  of  the  "  Pursuits  of  Literature?  who, 
speaking  of  satire,  says,  "  as  it  is  a  view  of  life,  designed 
to  be  presented  to  other  times,  as  well  as  those  in  which 
it  is  written,  the  necessity  of  an  author's  furnishing  notes 
to  his  own  composition  is  evident,  to  clear  up  such  diffi- 
culties as  the  lapse  of  time  would  unavoidably  create." 

I  have  been  not  a  little  amused  by  the  suggestions  of 
my  friends  respecting  what  might  and  ought  to  have  been 
done  for  rendering  this  poem  more  complete.  Some 
would  have  had  me  fabricate  a  production  in  the  mock 
heroic  stile,  and  fashioning  a  hero  after  the  model  of  Don 
Quixotte,  send  him  a  tilting  and  tournamenting  thro*  the 
world,  assailing  the  windmills,  giants  and  dragons  of  de- 
Biocracy  in  the  true  stile  of  chivalry.  Others  would  have 
me  si  i  down  and  in  sober  sadness  attempt  to  imitate  the 
'•Pursuits  of  Literature."  But  with  becoming  deference  to 
the  opinion  of  such  sage  advisers,  an  author  must  be  al- 
lowed the  privilege  of  consulting  his  own  genius,  for  "  n® 
man."  says  Suift,  "  ever  made  an  ill  figure,  who  under- 
stood his  own  talents,  nor  a  good  one  who  mistook  them." 

It  has  been  objected  to  this  poem,  that  the  connection 
of  its  different  parts  is  not  sufficiently  obvious:  But  in 
embracing  a  field  so  extensive  as  I  have  chosen,  it  would 
be  found  extremely  difficult  to  proceed  step  by  step  like 
a  mathematical  demonstration.  I  am  sure  that  the  great- 
er part  of  what  I  have  written  will  be  found  to  tend  di" 
rectly  or  indirectly  to  the  main  object  of  the  poem,  to 


xvi  INTRODUCTION. 


strip  the  mask  from  democracy,  and  expose  in  their  true 
colours  the  men,  who  are  either  ignorantly  or  maliciously 
busied  in  prostrating  the  pillars  of  social  order,  and  whose 
disorganizing  efforts  threaten  to  deliver  America,  bound 
hand  and  foot,  to  domestic  usurpers  or  foreign  tyrants.* 

1  have  followed  no  model  in  the  construction  of  this 
poem,  excepting  so  far  as  to  observe  the  general  rules  of 
composition  for  Hudibrastic  poetry.  In  my  rhymes,  I 
think  I  have  been  as  exact  as  the  best  English  authors, 
who  have  written  poetry  of  this  description.  Indeed  I  hope 
the  work,  with  all  its  faults,  will  serve  as  a  sort  of  com- 
pendium of  Federal  principles,  a  key  to  facts,and  a  conrise 
exposition  of  the  art*  of  demagogues,  and  may  enable 
some  honest  federalists  to  give  a  reason  for  the  political 
faith  which  they  profess. 

I  have,  probably,  been  indebted  for  some  of  my  ideas, 
.  kiid,possibly,someof  my  expressions,  to  authors  to  whom 
I  may  have  omitted  to  give  credit  for  their  performan- 
ces, f     Neman,  however,  has  a  more  thorough  contempt 


*  "There  may  be  much  diversity  in  the  process,  but  the 
result  is  nearly  the  same ;  the  chief  difference  is,  that 
small  states,  generally,  call  in  a  master  from  abroad,  and 
great  nations  make  a  master  for  themselves." 

Gorernor  Strong's  Speech. 

•f  An  acknowledgment  to  theR»*v  SethParson,  for  some 
passages  extracted  from  his  tract,  entitled  "  Proofs  of  the 


INTRODUCTION.  *vii 


fora  plagiarist  than  myself;  but  in  the  hurry  of  com- 
position, I  may  have,  inadvertently,  stumbled  on  the 
sentiments  of  others,  without  being  able  to  distinguish 
them  from  my  own  conceptions. 

Repetitions  of  ideas  and  of  words,  in  the  following 
poem,  frequently  occur,  and  will,  perhaps,  subject  me  to 
the  censure  of  critics.  I  thought,  however,  that  it  might  be 
useful  in  some  instances  "  to  give  line  upon  line."  U 
I  am  wrong,  in  tin's  particular,  it  is  not  owing  to  careless- 
ness, but  defect  in  judgment. 

Many  passages  in  the  following  pages  will,  perhaps,  be 
thought  of  too  trifling  import  to  be  allowed  a  place  in  a 
work  which  treats  of  some  of  the  most  important  topic* 
which  can  interest  humanity.  But  for  this  I  shall  borrow 
an  apology  from  Horace: 

'*  Ego  si  risi  quod  ineptus  Pasli'.los  Ruiillus  olet,  lividus 
et  mjrdux  videar  ?"J 


existence  and  dangerous  tendency  of  Illuminism,"  was, 
through  accident,  omitted  in  this  edition. 

t  If  I  smile  because  the  stupid  Rufillus  is  scented  \\ith 
pt'ifu;-ies,  must  1  be  stigmatised  as  a  man  of  an  envious 
alidous  disposition. 

B2 


xviii  INTRODUCTION. 


I  believe  there  is  no  law  in  the  code  of  legitimate  criti-. 
cism,  which  prohibits  a  poet  from  an  occasional  traffic  in 
trifles.  Besides  the  powers  of  serious  argument  and  in- 
vective against  our  political  back-sliders  have  been  long 
since  exhausted  by  the  essayists  of  the  day.  Ridicule 
seems  to  be  the  only  weapon  which  has  not  fallen  b.unt- 
ed  from  Ihe  brazen  buckler  of  Democracy,  like  the  dart 
of  Priamfrom  the  bosses  of  Pyrrhus. 

I  am  sensible  that  I  have  presented  to  view  some  fright- 
ful pictures  of  political  and  moral  depravity  ;  but  as  they 
are  drawn  from  the  life,  I  cannot  be  implicated  in  their 
disgusting  appearance.  To  those,  who  are  inclined  to 
suppose  any  part  of  the  following  publication  libellous, 
1  would  observe  that  I  have  not  writtea  with  a 
view  "  to  create  animosities  and  disturb  the  public 
peace."*  It  is  time  that  the  community  were  well  and 
truly  infoimed  of  the  characters  of  the  principal  per- 
fji-mers  on  our  political  theatre  ;  and  if  we  cannot  chaw 
the  curtain  without  the  appearance  of  a  "  Castle  Spectre' 
let  us  in  earnest  set  about  exorcising  the  land  of  the  de- 
mons which  infest  us. 

Every  man,  who  has  any  thing  at  stake  in  society,  is 
equally  concerned  wilh  myself  in  the  topics  which  arc 


JSlacksiontt  Com,  B.  4.  C/i.  II. 


INTRODUCTION.  xi* 


brought  into  view  in  the  following  production.  Men  of 
property,  and  men  whose  talents  and  industry  afford 
them  a  reasonable  prospect  of  its  acquisition,  arc  inter- 
ested to  the  amount  of  their  possessions  and  prospects  in 
a  regular,  efficient  and  just  government.  If  our  politi- 
cal rights  are  undefined  and  insecure,  our  ciril  rights; 
among  which  is  the  right  of  property,  will  not  long  be 
respected.  If  the  fountain  head  be  contaminated,  the 
streams  cannot  remain  pure  ;  and  if  our  public  affairs  are 
badly  conducted,  individual  distress  will  be  the  conse- 
quence. The  anxiety  which  some  of  our  hike-  warm  Fed- 
eralists show  for  the  acquisition  of  property,  while  those 
institutions,  which  alone  can  protect  them  in  its  enjoy- 
ment, are  crumbling  to  pieces  about  them,  is  not  unlike 
the  sagacity  of  a  profound  gentleman,  who,  when  hi* 
liou-,-  was  burning,  was  very  active  in  placing  for  security 
his  valuable  effects  in  a  closet  which  made  a  part  of  the  edi- 
fice on  fire.  Professional  men,  men  of  education,all  who  pos- 
sess talents  or  acquirements  which  entitle  them  to  distinc- 
tion in  society,  are  called  on  to  put  a  stop  to  the  work  of 
destruction  commenced  by  the  parly  now  in  «>ower,  and 
progressing  under  the  auspices  of  our  Randolphs,  Nich- 
Duunes. 


The  theme  which  I  have  chosen  in  the  following  work, 
lias  been  not  a  little  hacknied.  The  subject  of  American 
politics  has  commanded  the  attention  of  the  philosophers 
and  literati  of  all  nations.  It  cannot,  therefore,  be  ex- 


x*  INTRODUCTION. 


pected  that  I  have  either  exhausted  the  subject,  or  that 
my  labours  have  produced  any  thing  which  can  lay  claim 
to  the  merit  of  novelty.  My  book  contains  but  an  ab- 
stract of  what  might  be  said,  it  is  merely  a  sort  of  a  horn- 
book of  Federal  politics,  but  I  hope,  so  far  as  it  goes, 
it  is  correct  and  will  be  useful.  It  has  been  the  result  of 
much  investigation.  I  have  taken  great  pains  to  ascertain 
facts,  and  1  believe  my  allusions  and  assertions  are  always 
supported  by  them.  1  have  not  drawn  my  bow  at  ran- 
dom, but  if  I  know  my  own  heart,  I  have  had  a  single  eye 
to  the  public  good,  even  in  those  attacks  which  are  most 
personal.  If  I  have  offended  one  really  good  man  it  will 
be  to  me  a  subject  of  lasting  regret,  and  1  will  make  any 
reparation  in  my  power.  But  bad  men  are  fair  game,  and 
"  1  will  not  be  intimidated  by  the  war  whoop  of  Jacobins 
and  Democratic  writers,  or  the  feeble  shrieks  of  witlings 
and  poetasters,"!  from  attacking  those  who  are  foes  to  ra- 
tional freedom  and  to  my  country. 

I  would  have  printed  the  additions  which  I  have  made 
to  this  impression  separately,  had  it  been  consistent  with 
the  general  plan  of  this  work.  But  &  poetical  appendix 
would  be  truly  an  auk  ward  appendage  to  a  poem. 
— When  I  published  the  last  edition,  I  did  not  contem- 
plate making,  immediately,  any  additions  to  the  \\ork  as 


p  Pursuits  of  Literature, 


INTRODUCTION.  xxi 


it  then  stood.  But  finding  in  New-  York  sources  of  in- 
foimation  of  which  I  could  not  so  conveniently  avail  my- 
self in  my  former  situation^  and  conceiving  that  I  had  but 
glanced  at  many  subjects,  which  required  more  mature 
consideration,  I  was  induced  to  proceed  without  delay  in 
tr.e  prosecution  of  the  plan,  which  I  had  at  first  in  view, 
provided  the  poem  met  with  the  patronage  of  the  public. 

In  the  second  Canto,  entitled  liluminism,  I  have  at- 
tempted merely  a  sketch  of  those  principles,  which  have 
given  the  democracy  of  our  own  times  that  dreadful  and 
systematic  ma'.ignancy.which  distinguishes  it  from  the  re- 
volutionizing efforts  of  former  ages.  1  have  likewise  op- 
posed, with  the  little  powers  1  possess  the  tom-nt  of  infi- 
delity, which  threatens  to  overwhelm  tin;  moral  world.  I 
cannot  but  il.u  tor  myself  that  this  part  of  my  labours  will 
meet  wilh  the  approbation  of  those  whose  duty  it  is  to 
wain  their  fclluw-men  against  the  "cold  and  flippant 
scepticism  which  damps  our  hopes,  removes  the  sanctions 
of  morality,  chills  domestic  happiness,  destroys  the  obli- 
gations of  social  order,  and  builds  up  the  philosophy  of 
vanity  on  the  subversion  of  the  altars  of  God."§ 

"  LITERATURE,  well  or  ill  conducted,"(says  that  con- 
summate writer,  the  author  of  the  Pursuits  of  Literature) 

§Hcmy  \orkr,  Esq.  quoted  from  the  oration  of  Mr. 
fo 


Lewis,  pronouiu  «-d  before  the  CounetticjUt  Society  ui  C 
cuuati,  July  4,  11  V9. 


xxii  INTRODUCTION. 


"  is  the  great  engine,  by  which  I  am  fully  persuaded  ill 
civilized  States  must  ultimately  be  supported  or  over- 
thrown." The  word  Literature  ought  to  be  taken  in  its 
most  comprehensive  sense,  including  whatsoever  is  pre- 
sented to  the  world  through  the  medium  of  the  press.  It 
was  by  the  agency  of  prostituted  presses  that  our  dema- 
gogues have  obtained  their  ruinous  ascendency,  it  was 
by  the  means  of  the  press  that  the  impious  tenets  of  the 
French  philosophists  prepared  the  way  for  those  desolat- 
ing scenes  of  anarchy,  which  cannot  be  paralleled  in  his- 
tory. It  was  the  inter  position  of  the  press ; — the  pat- 
riotic exertions  of  such  writers  as  Edmund  Burke,  and 
the  author  of  the  "  Pursuits  of  Literature,"  aided  by  the 
timely  efforts  of  a  few  individuals,  which  prevented  simi- 
lar scenes  in  Great  Britain.  It  is  only  by  a  servile  press 
that  tyrants  and  demagogues  can,  in  the  present  state 
of  society,  support  themselves  in  power.  1  repeat  it, 
no  people  can  be  enslaved  unless  they  are  deceived. 
• — Mow  great  then  ought  t»  be  the  force  of  public  in- 
dignation again»t  those  men,  who  prostitute  literar\  tal- 
ents to  the  purposes  of  a  party.  An  Editor  of  a  party  pa- 
per, who,  knowingly,  gives  currency  to  falsehoods,  ought 
to  be  shunned  as  a  monster  of  crime;  for,  if  \ve  r.re  to 
estimate  the  enormity  of  a  criminal  from  the  consequences 
•which  his  crimes  produce  in  society,  one  such  editor  with 
the  kind  of  abilities  which  even  Democrats  ascribe  to 
their  friend  Duane,  is  more  to  be  dreaded  than  a  whole 
colony  of  convicts.  The  people  ought  immediately  to 
put  it  out  of  the  power  of  such  wretches  to  injure  society, 


INTRODUCTION.  xxiii 


bv  withdrawing  from  theiti  their  confidence,  and  refusing 
in  pay  for  their  vehicles  of  falsehood.  If  the  voice  of 
public  opinion  should  not  pronounce  a  sentence  of  out- 
lawry against  such  enormous  culprits,  \ve  shall  soon  find 
ourselves  "foolt-d  out  of  our  security,  fookd  out  of  our 
happiness  }  and  when  we  have  lost  every  blessiiig&awul 
recovery,  we  shall  look  round  at  each  other  in  a  stupid 
despair,  clashing  our  chains  and  unable  to  shake  them  off, 
and  ask,  " Hoiu  has  all  this  been  brought  about  ?"* 

The  pillars  which  secure  the  fabric  of  society  in  Ame- 
rica are  placed  on  a  less  solid  foundation  than  in  older 
countries.  In  England,  in  a  particular  manner,  there  are 
ct.-rtain  established  principles,  which  are  considered  as  the 
basis  of  their  government ;  not  written  article  by  article 
like  a  Bill  of  Rights,  but  their  evidences  rest  in  writing, 
sanctioned  by  the  practice  of  ages,  understood  and  re- 
spected, and  no  Randolph  or  Nicholson  dare  infringe  on 
them.  In  America  public  opinion  must,  in  a  great  mea- 
sure, supply  the  place  of  long  established  precedents,  and 
form  the  chain  which  binds  together  society.  It  is,  there- 
fore, all-important,  that  the  public  mind  should  be  cor- 
rectly informed,  and  any  attempt  to  misinform,  and  by 
that  means  mislead  the  public,  should  be  considered  as  a 
blow  aimed  at  the  vitals  of  society,  and  the  propagators 
of  such  falsehoods  ought  to  be  esteemed  as  foes  to  their 
country,  to  freedom  and  to  mankind. 


*  Pursuit*  of  Literature. 


xxiv  INTRODUCTION. 


I  consider  myself  as  having  brought  a  set  of  culprits  to 
trial  before  the  tribunal  of  public  opinion.  Their  guilt  is 
clear  beyond  all  dispute,  for  I  come  armed  with  proofs 
and  documents,  which  must  make  it  manifest  to  every 
capacity.  If  there  is  not  virtue  and  independence  enough 
in  the  court  to  condemn  them,  the  country  is  ripe  for 
that  despotism,  which  will  not  fail  to  await  us,  preluded 
by  anarchy,  and  accompanied  by  all  the  horrors,  which 
attend  a  revolutionary  state  of  society. 


CANTO  I. 


Cije  Cocsinu 


ARGUMEN^. 

•  The  wight,  who  led  the  Royal  College 

To  furious  fight,  which  all  acknowledge 
Exceeded,  nineteen  times  to  one, 
All  battles  else  beneath  the  sun. 
Commences  war  with  certain  brats, 
Who  style  themselves  good  Democrats, 
Although  i  n  ten  there's  more  than  nine, 
Just  nine  times  worse  than  Cataline  ! 
And  first  begins,  sans  any  coaxing, 
To  sound  his  ruin-boding  tocsin  ; 
An  awful  prelude  to  the  battle, 
He  means  to  wage  with  such  vile  cattle. 

DEVOID  of  influence  or  fear, 
I  trace  Democracy's  career, 
And  paint  the  vices  of  the  times, 
While  bad  men  tremble  at  my  rhymes 


THE  TOCSIN. 


And  I'll  unmask  the  Democrat, 

Your  sometimes  this  thing,  sometimes  that,1 

Whose  life  is  one  dishonest  shuffle, 

Lest  he  perchance  the  mob    should  ruffle  ; 

1  Your  sometimes  this  thing,  sometimes  that. 

I  here  have  reference  to  the  different  appearances, 
which  our  Antifcderalists,  alias  Democrats,  alias  Re- 
publicansj  alias"  genuine"  ditto  (for  the  man  who 
manages  the  Aurora  makes  two  divisions  of  these 
self  denominated  friends  to  the  people)  have  as- 
sumed in  the  evanescent  stages  of  their  political  ex- 
istence. But  more  of  this  hereafter. 

8  Lest  he  perchance  the  mob  should  ruffle. 

I  would  make  a  distinction,  which  I  think  of  the 
highest  importance,  between  the  fieo/ite,  and  the 
mob,  or  fio/iulace.  By  the  latter,  I  would  designate 
certain  of  the  lowest  class  in  the  community,  who 
are  alike  destitute  of  property  and  of  principle,  and 
may  be  emphatically  stiled  the  rabble.  These,  in 
America,  consist  principally  of  imported  despera- 
does, who  have  made  this  country  an  "  asylum," 
and  having  nothing  to  lose,  are  wishing 

"To  turn  the  world  up- 
Side  down  to  put  themselves  a  top." 

Trumbulls's  Me  Fitigal. 


THE  TOCSIN.  3 

And  who  by  public  good,  intends 
Whate'er  subserves  his  private  ends, 
And  bawls  for  freedom,  in  his  high  rant, 
The  better  to  conceal  the  tyrant.31 

Thesearethe  kind  of  beings  to  whom  the  Mantuau 
Bard  alluded  in  the  following  most  exquisite  simile  : 

Ac  veluti  magno  in  pofiulo  cum  Sippe  coorta  est, 

Seditio,  sxvitqtte  animis  ignobile  vit'gus  ; 

yamfjue  faces  et  saxci  volant ;  fu>or  anna  ministrai. 

As  when  in  tumults  rise  th'  igaohle  crowd, 
Mad  arc  their  motions,  and  their  tongues  are  loud  .• 
And  stones  and  brands  in  rattling  volleys  fly, 
And  all  the  rustic  arms  which  fury  can  supply. 

Dry  den. 

By  the  people,  I  mean  the  great  body  of  Ameri- 
can farmers,  merchants,  mechanics,  Sec.  who,  pos- 
sessing habits  of  industry,  and  our  primitive  New- 
England  manners,  may  be  considered  as  the  f/iutiinci 
of  republicanism. 

3 The  better  to  conceal  the  tyrant. 

In  characterising  the  now  prevailing  party,  1 
would  not  affirm  that  they  are  at  heart  all  tyrants, 
but  that  their  leaders  arc,  generally  speaking,  haugh- 
ty and  imperious  demagogues.  Like  the  genuine- 
republican-slave-driving-nabobs  of  Virginia,  \vlio 


4  THE  TOCSIN. 

Determin'd  I'll  do  what  I  can  do, 
And  pray  what  more  can  mortal  man  do  ? 
For  weal  and  welfare  of  our  nation, 
And  this  backsliding  generation. 

I'll  blow  my  shrewd  satiric  horn, 
The  taunting  finger  point  of  scorn 
At  vice  and  folly,  fools  and  knaves  ;4 
It  must  be  done  or  zve  be  slaves. 

[terer/ 

InTomPaine's  "  R  ights  of  Man"  nosmat- 
The  peafA&&  friend,  but  not  their  flatterer; 
I'll  not  electioneer  nor  job, 
Adore  sage  Mammoth,  nor  king  mob. 

would  fain  conceal  their  designs  of  domination  be- 
neath the  mask  of  liberty,  and  a  pretended  zeal  for 
the  rights  of  the  people. 


4  At  vice,  aud./W/yt./&0k) 


*'  Satire  never  can  have  effect  without  a  personal 
application.  It  must  come  home  to  the  bosoms, 
and  often  to  the  offences  of  particular  men." 

Pursuits  of  Literature. 

5  In  Tom  Paine's  "  Rights  of  Man,"  no  smatlerer. 
Nothing  ever  yet  written,  can  be  more  directly 


THE  TOCSIN. 

For  Chronicle  abuse  I  care  not  ;6 

But  I  will  cry  aloud  and  spare  not, 

The  tyrant  Democrat  unveil, 

Though  damn'd  for  such  a  damning  tale.7 

calculated  for  sapping  the  foundations  of  society, 
than  the  productions  of  this  demoralizing  scribbler. 
He  has  indeed  mixed  some  truth  with  his  falsehood, 
and  now  and  then  correct  reasoning  with  his  school-boy 
sophistry.  But  his  writings,  in  general,  are  much 
better  calculated  for  dissolving,  than  for  cementing 
the  social  compact. 

5  For  Chronicle  abuse  I  care  not. 

The  author  has  been  honoured  somewhat  liberally 
with  the  abuse  of  the  Chronicle  scribblers.  They 
have,  among  other  liesy  affirmed  that  he  was  u  im- 
ported," under  "  British  influence,"  Sec. 

7  Though  damn'd  for  such  a  damning  tale. 

I  would  not  use  the  epithet  damn'd,  in  a  profane 
sense,  but  in  the  sense  it  is  used  when  we  speak  of 
temporal  evils  only,  or  in  the  sense  of  Mr.  Gifford, 
•who  speaking  of  the  productions  of  illiterate  scrib- 
blers, says,  they  are 

"  Works  daivm'd,  or  to  L^  Jar.iu'd." 


B   2 


6  THE  TOCSIN. 

Those  who  assume,  at  Faction's  call, 
A  right  V  infringe  on  rights  of  all,8 
Who  swear  all  honesty  a    hum, 
Who  rise  because  they  are  the  scum.10 

May  hide  their  heads,  for  I  determine, 
To  set  my  foot  upon  the  vermin, 

8    A  right  t'  infringe  on  rights  of  all. 

See  a  Charge  delivered  to  the  Grand  Jury  in  Penn- 
sylvania, by  the  Honourable  Alexander  Addison,  in 
•which  the  distinction  between  liberty  and  licentious- 
ness, the  dangers  to  be  apprehended  from  the  tyranny 
of  the  MANY,ever  more  dreadful  than  that  of  the  FEW, 
are  pointed  out  in  a  perspicuous  and  masterly  man- 


9   Who  swear  all  honesty  a  hum. 

Declarations  to  this  effect,  I  have  repeatedly  heard 
made  by  those  who  stiled  themselves  good  Demo- 
crats, friends  to  the  people,  real  fia'riots.  Sec.  Sec. 
That  there  is  no  such  thing  as  honesty  in  politics;  that 
in  the  scramble  for  power,  bad  means  were  justifiable 
to  obtain  the  good  end  in  view,  to  wit,  the  aggran- 
dizement of  the  party  making  use  of  such  means  ; 
that  they  have  ever  acted  in  conformity  to  these 
tenets,  an  impartial  history  of  the  party  will  amply 
testify. 


THE  TOCSIN.  7 

Except  some  creeping  knaves  exempt, 
Who  have  not  risen  to  contempt  !u 

A  mortal  foe  to  fools  and  rogues, 
Your  Democrats  and  demagogues, 
Who've  sworn  they  \villnot  leave  usabrick, 
Of  freedom's  blood  cemented  fabric. 

10  Who  rise  because  they  are  the  scum. 

"  When  the  political  pot  boils,  the  scum  rises." 

11  Who  have  not  risen  to  contempt  I 

Such  little  things,  for  instance,  as  Anthony  Has- 
•well,  editor  of  a  newspaper  at  Bennington,  Vermont, 
parson  Griswold,  the  Walpole  Observatory-man, 
upon  whom  I  could  wish  never  to  be  under  the  dis- 
agreeable necessity  of  wasting  a  line.  I  may,  how- 
ever, be  compelled  to  bestow  some  share  of  my  at- 
tention on  these  and  other  animalcule  of  the  fry  of 
sedition.  An  asp  is  an  animal  apparently  quite  in- 
significant, but  its  bite  may  be  as  fatal  as  the  paw  of 
a  lion.  Perhaps  Federalists  have  carried  their  con- 
tempt of  these  grub  worms  of  faction  too  far. 
There  are  many,  among  both  our  great  and  little 
vulgar,  who  cannot  comprehend  a  sentence  of  correct 
English,  if  it  chance  to  contain  an  idea  ;  but  are 
quite  "  up  to  any  thing,"  which  may  be  drivelled 
from  the  noddle  of  Tony  Haswcll,  or  Do.  Pasquin. 


6  THE  TOCSIN. 

I'll  search  in  Democratic  annals, 
Elicit  truth  from  dirty  channels, 
Describe  low  knaves  in  high  condition, 
Though  speaking  truth  "  is  deem'd  sedi- 

[tion. 

The  attempting  to  hew  blocks  with  razors,  is  a 
yery  foolish  affair.  The  more  knowing  Democrats, 
who  lead  by  the  nose  the  simpletons  of  the  party, 
are  sensible  of  it.  They  therefore  work  upon  their 
thick-headed  supporters,  with  such  sorry  tools  as 
the  pair  of  Tonies  aforesaid,  parson  Griswold,  Sec. 

la  Though  speaking  truth  is  deem'd  sedition. 

It  is  indeed  wonderful,  (if  any  thing  in  the  annals 
of  Democracy  can  be  so)  that  Democrats  should, 
without  a  blush,  affirm  that  the  Sedition  Law  was 
"  Law  against  Constitution."  Yet  they  have  not 
only  frequently  asserted  this  among  other  LIES, 
but  have  represented  it  as  a  most  horrible -engine 
of  tyranny,  fabricated  by  the  Federalists,  for  no 
other  purpose  but  to  oppress  the  people  !  And  this 
wasone.  among  many  other  still  more  atrocious  false- 
hoods, which  has  formed  the  basis  of  their  political 
consequence.  The  fact  is,  that  this  law  not  only 
mitigated  the  rigour  of  Common  Law  on  that  sub- 
ject, but  guarantied  to  the  American  Citizen  an  im- 
portant right,  which,  under  the  domination  of  the 
now  ruling  party,  he  is  not  permitted  to  exercise- 


THE  TOCSIN.  9 

I  would  not,  willingly,  omit 
One  scoundrel,  high  enough  to  hit, 
But  should  I  chance  to  make  omission, 
I'll  put  him  in  my  next  edition. 

But  still  with  caution  will  refrain 
From  giving  honest  people  pain  ; 
And  only  private  vice  unmask, 
Where  public  good  requires  the  task. 

I  would  not  wantonly  annoy.... 
No  good  man's  happiness  destroy  ; 
None  lives,  I  say,  with  honest  pride,  who 
Despises  slander  more  than  I  do. 

But  when  vile  convicts  make  pretence 
To  power  and  public  confidence, 
The  indignant  Muse  of  satire  urges 
The  honest  bard  to  ply  her  scourges. 

A  prosecution  has  been  instituted  against  Harry 
Crosvvell.  for  a  libel,  but  our  Democratic  liberty 
and  equality  gentlemen  in  office,  would  not  permit 
the  defendant  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  matter  al- 
ledged  to  be  libellous  !  ! 


10  THE  TOCSIN. 

And  therefore  be  it  known  to  all, 
That  though  the  risk  I  run's  not  small,13 
I'll  lash  each  knave  that's  now  in  vogue, 
Merely  because  he  is  a  rogue  ;14 

And  hope  at  least  to  pull  the  pride  down, 
Of  those,  who  our  best  men  have  lied 

[dozvn,1' 

That  though  the  risk  I  run's  not  small. 

The  person  who  in  these  times  dares  to  rend  the 
veil  of  Democracy,  and  disclose  the  demon  in  his 
naked  deformity,  must  expect  that  the  worshippers 
of  that  infern  al  idol,  will  vow  vengeance  on  his  de- 
voted head.  The  sword  of  the  duellist,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  may  merely  precede  the  dagger  of  the  assas- 
sin. But  it  is  the  duty  of  every  real  Republican,  to  be 
ready,  like  the  Roman  Curtius,  to  plunge  into  the 
gulf,  and  sacrifice  himself  to  save  his  country. 

14  Merely  because  he  is  a  rogue. 

I  am  no  farther  a  foe  to  any  of  the  characters  who 
are  the  subjects  of  the  following  Satirical  Strictures 
than  as  they  are  foes  to  good  order,  morality,  and  to 
my  native  country.  Personal  animosity  is  not  among 
the  motives  which  produced  this  Poem. 

II  Of  those  who  our  best  men  have  lie d  down. 


THE  TOCSIN.  U 

And  have  contriv'd,  the  rogues,  to  rise 
By  arts,  which  honest  men  despise. 

Unite  your  force  then,  Chronicleers, 
With  those  who  have,  or  have  not... .ears.... 
The  /Egis-man,  and  both  the  Tonics, 
May  join  with  half  a  dozen  Honees. 

Reader,  I  will  here  present  thee  with  one  among 
many  specimens,  of  the  adroitness  of  our  self-styl- 
ed friends  to  the  people,  in  the  art  and  mystery  of 
political  lying. 

At  the  time  that  our  Envoys  to  France,  Messrs. 
Marshall,  Pinckney  and  Gerry,  were  insulted  by 
those  infamous  propositions,  from  the  French  Di- 
rectory, made  through  the  medium  of  X.  Y.  and  Z. 
which  justly  excited  the  indignation,  not  only  of 
America,  but  of  all  Europe,  it  was  promulgated  by 
good  Democrats  among  their  ignorant  supporters, 
that  the  dispatches  from  our  Plenipotentiaries,  were 
forged  by  Federalists  at  Philadelphia,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  throwing  an  odium  on  our  great  and  mag- 
nanimous sister  republic  !  !  This  impudent  false- 
hood answered  good  democratic  purposes.  A  full 
blooded  Jacobin  was  sent  to  Congress,  in  retaliation 
of  the  aforesaid  Federal  forgery  ! ! 

This  however  is  only  one  in  a  million.  A  lon,^ 
life  devoted  to  the  express  purpose  of  dctf((i:i;; 
the  falsehoods  of  the  deceitful  demagogues,  who 


13  THE  TOCSIN. 

Come,  Cheetham,  Duane,  Smith  and  Pas- 

[quin, 

In  presidential  favour  basking ; 
With  all  your  scoundrel  gang  affords, 
Who  straddle  poles,  or  wear  wood  swords  ; 

Imported  patriots,  whose  fit  station 
Should  be  that  kind  of  elevation, 
Which  happens  oft  to  rogues,  less  callous, 
When  they're  exalted  on  the  gallows  ; 

I  hope  your  knaveships  won't  refuse, 
To  honor  me  with  your  abuse  ; 
But  let  not  these,  my  modest  lays, 
Be  blasted  by  a  scoundrel's  praise  ;.... 

For  since  my  country's  good  demands 
This  piece  of  justice  from  my  hands, 
I'll  string  you  up,  sans  ceremo?iie, 
From  Duane  down  to  dirty  Tony.  7 

have  crowded  themselves  into  consequence,  would 
be  too  short  a  period  for  that  purpose  ;  but 
"  Half  the  tale  must  be  untold.  " 

*r  From  Duane  down  to  dirty  Tony. 
These  pure  patriots  shall  receive,  with  those  men- 


THE  TOCSIN.  13 

No  threats,  nor  growling,  shall  prohibit 
My  hanging  you  on  satire's  gibbet ; 
Expos'd  in  dolorous  condition, 
Like  flies  impall'd  by  old  Domitian." 

Now,  since  ye  are  a  ruffian  crew 
As  honest  Jack  Ketch  ever  knew  ; 
Have  chang'd  your  names,  as  well  as  courses, 
Like  folks  who  trade.... in  stealing  horses ; 

I'll  take  each  Demo,  and  expose  his 
Form  in  his  each  metempsychosis, 
Though  he  assumes  as  many  shapes 
As  Jove  for  managing  his  rapes. 

As  Tories  many  of  you  vex'd  us  ;19 
As  Antifederals  then  perplex'd  us  ; 

tioned  in  the  preceding  lines,  the  homage  of  our  at- 
tention in  the  5th  Canto  of  this  our  Poem  ! 

is  Like  flies  impale'd  by  old  Domitian. 

We  arc  informed  by  historians,  that  this  Emperor 
amused  his  leisure  hours,  by  impaling  flies  on  the 
point  of  a  needle. 

*'  As  frories  many  of  you  vex'd  us, 
c 


U  THE  TOCSIN. 

And,  ever  bent  upon  confusion, 
Oppos'd  the  Federal  Constitution  ; 

And  then,  camelion  like,  vile  brats  ! 
You  call'd  yourselves  good  Democrats  ; 
And  next  to  drive  deception's  game, 
Self-styl'd  Republicans..../^?*  shame! 

And  when  by  dint  of  different  phases, 
You  crowd  into  your  betters'  places  : 
Republicans,  by  process  curious, 
Are  split  to  "genuine"  and  "spurious." 

But  after  all  these  shifts. ...you  rogues  ! 
You're  nothing  more  than  demagogues, 
And  bawl  for  freedom,  in  your  high  rant, 
The  better  to  conceal  the  tyrant  I80 

Nothing  can  exceed  in  impudence  the  Democratic 
false  hoed, sooften  repeated,  that  the  Federalists  were 
Tories  under  British  influence  &c. ;  when  the  truth 
is,  that  the  Federalists  were,  most  generally,  active 
supporters  of  American  Independence,  while  Jef- 
ferson was  hiding  himself  in  the  cave  of  the  moun- 
tain, and  Tench  Coxe  was  piloting  the  British 
army  into  Philadelphia. 

20  The  better  to  conceal  the  tyrant  I 


THE  TOCSIN.  15 

But  my  design  and  hope,  and  trust  is, 
To  bring  your  leading  knaves  to  justice  ; 
Expos'd  on  satire's  gibbet  high, 
To  frighten  others  of  the  fry. 

Thus,  when  our  prudent  farmers  find 
Your  Democrats  of  feather'd  kind, 
Crows,  blackbirds,  and  rapacious  jays, 
Dispos'd  to  plunder  fields  of  maize  ; 

If  haply  they  destroy  a  R  \v 
Of  such  a  lawless,  plundering  crew, 
They  hang  them  in  conspicuous  place, 
To  terrify  the  pilfering  race. 

This  couplet  has  before  occurred,  but  our  pre- 
decessors, Homer  and  Virgil,  \vere  much  addicted 
to  iterations  of  this  kind.  The  reader  may  please 
to  consider  it  as  the 

Incifie  Mxnalios  mecum  mca  tibia  versus  of  this 
Poem. 


CANTO  II. 


ARGUMENT. 

We  now  the  origin  will  trace 

Of  that  dire  pest  to  human  race, 

That  freedom ,  with  which  France  was  carst,2S 

Ere  llonapart,  the  bubble  burst  ; 

The  fiend  exorcise  from  our  land, 

Who  er,t,  with  desolating  hand, 

Bade  Democrats,  a  horrid  train, 

-Half  Europe  «  heap  with  hills  of  slain." 


THERE  was  a  gaunt  Genevan  priest,*3 
Mad  as  our  New  Lights  are  at  least,24 
Much  learning  had,  but  no  pretence 
To  wisdom,  or  to  common  sense. 


No  doubt  every  hound   in   the  Democratic  pack, 
ill  open  upon  me>  for  introducing  in  this  place  what 
C  2 


18  ILLUMINISM. 

This  crazy  wight,  by  some  mischance, 
Had  rights  to  prosecute  in  France  ; 

they  would   call   the  phantom  of  Illuminism.    But, 
scripts  litera  manent.    There  are  certain  damning 
facts,  which,  with  all  their  shuffling  ingenuity,  and 
sneaking  evasions,  will  ever  stare  them  in  the  face. 
They  never  have  been  able  to  prove,  that  either  the 
Abbe  Barruel,  or  Professor  Robison,  (who  with  a 
great  number  of  other  credible  witnesses  have  testi- 
fied to  the  existence  of  Illuminism  and  its  damning 
tendency)  were  weak  or  wicked  men,  were  deceived 
themselves,  or  entertained  a  wish  to  deceive  others. 
Besides,  the  documents  which  have  been  adduced, 
and  the  multitude  of  corroborating  circumstances, 
\vhich  go  to  prove  that  this  mystery  of  iniquity  has 
a  real  existence,  cannot  fail  to  enforce  conviction  on 
the  minds  of  the  most  credulous.     How  far  the 
developement  of  the  plans  of  the   Illuminati  by 
Professor  Robison  and  others  may  have  induced  them 
to  defer  the  execution  of  their  nefarious  projects,  it 
is  impossible  to  determine.     They  may,  perhaps, 
be  resting  on  their  oars,  and  watching,  till  the  po- 
pular current,  shall  set  in  their  favour.    It  certainly 
behoves  those  who  wish  well  to  society,  who  prefer 
the  social  to  the  savage  state^  and   who  would  not 
wish  that  America  should  realize  all  the  horrors  of 
the  most  bloody  revolutions  recorded  in  history,  to 
keep  a  watchful  eye  over  the  motions  of  this  most 
infernal  of  all  JUNTOS. 


ILLUMINISM.  19 

By  legal  subterfuge  was  cheated, 
By  pettifogging  knaves,  mal-treated  ; 

I  know  there  are  many  of  our  politicians,  who 
seem  determined  not  to  believe  that  Illuminism  to 
any  dangerous  extent  has  ever  existed  in  America, 
and  that  its  influence  in  Europe  has  been  much 
less  than  has  by  many  been  apprehended.  I  wish 
for  the  honor  of  human  nature  that  there  was  less 
proof  of  the,  existence  of  such  a  combination.  As 
the  fact  of  the  existence,  or  at  least  of  the  per- 
nicious tendency  of  Illuminism,  is  by  our  demo- 
crats generally  denied,  I  shall  confine  myself  in 
this  note  to  the  establishment  of  the  credibility  of  one 
of  the  principal  witnesses  in  convicting  this  nefarious 
gang  of  their  diabolical  conspiracy. 

"  As  Dr.  Robison  is  a  principal  evidence  in  the 
cause  now  pending,  it  will  be  necessary  to  enquire, 
whether  we  have  a  just  view  of  the  man.  The  result 
of  this  inquiry,  will  serve  to  give  the  public  some  idea 
of  the  means  which  have  been  made  use  of  to  dis- 
credit Illuminism,  and  how  benevolently  disposed 
some  among  us  are,  to  prevent  their  countrymen 
from  being  misled  by  what  are  called,  the  ridicul- 
ous reveries  of  Robison.  The  reader's  patience, 
it  is  feared,  will  be  exhausted  by  the  detail  of  cre- 
dentials which  the  effrontery  of  his  accusers  have 
rendered  necessary  ;  but  the  character  of  a  witness 
is  of  the  first  importance.  The  following  sketch 
of  the  principal  events  of  the  life  of  Dr.  Robison, 


20  ILLUMINISM. 

Found  foppish  Frenchmen  as  they  were 
Delineated  by  Voltaire  ;** 

•was  drawn  up  from  authentic  documents,  received 
directly  from  Edinburgh,  through  a  respectable 
channel."* 

"  The  father  of  the  Professor,  a  respectable 
country  gentleman,  intended  him  for  the  church, 
and  gave  him  eight  years  of  an  University  educa- 
tion at  Glasgow.  Prefering  a  different  profession, 
he  accepted  an  offer  of  going  into  the  Navy,  with 
very  flatering  prospects.  He  was  appointed 
Mathematical  Instructor  to  his  Royal  Highness 
the  Duke  of  York.  In  that  office,  he  accordingly 
entered  the  Navy  in  February,  1759,  being  that 
day  twenty  years  old.  He  was  present  at  the  siege 
of  Quebeck.  With  the  late  Admiral  Knowles,  he 
was  particularly  connected,  and  his  son,  afterwards 
captain  Knowles,  one  of  the  most  promising  young 
officers  in  the  British  Navy,  was  committed  to  his 
charge. 

"  In  1761,  he  was  sent  by  the  board  of  Admi- 
ralty, to  make  trial  of  Harrison's  Watch  at  Jamaica. 
At  the  peace  of  1763,  he  returned  to  College.  In 
1764,  he  was  again  appointed  by  the  Admiralty  to 

*  Concerning  the  facts  contained  in  this  historical 
aketch,  which  were  communicated  to  Dr  Erskine,  he 
•writes  thus  j  "  The  most  important  facts  in  it  I  have  had 
access  to  know,  being  first  settled  at  Kirkimillock,  the 
neighbouring  parish  to  Boderoch,  where  lay  the  estate  of 
his  worthy  father.  For  the  few  facts  of  -vhich  I  know 
less,  full  and  unexceptionable  vouchers  can  be  produced." 


ILLUMINISM.  21 

Polish'd  their  manners,  yet  insidious, 
Professing  friendship,  still  perfidious. 

make  trial  of  Harrison's  improved  Watch  at  Bar- 
badoes ;  but  his  patron,  Lord  Anson,  being  dead, 
and  the  conditions  not  such  as  pleased  him,  he  de- 
clined the  employment,  returned  again  to  College, 
and  took  under  his  care  the  only  remaining  son  of 
his  friend,  Sir  Charles  Knowles.  This  son  is  the 
present  Admiral 'Sir  Charles  Knowles. 

In  1770,  Sir  Charles  was  invited  by  the  Empress 
of  Russia  to  take  charge  of  her  Navy.  He  took 
Mr.  Robison  with  him  as  his  Secretary.  In  1772, 
Mr.  Robison  was  appointed  superintendant  of  the 
education  in  the  Marine  Caslet  Corps,  where  he 
had  under  his  direction  about  500  youth*  350  of 
whom  were  sons  of  noblemen  and  gentlemen,  and 
26  masters  in  the  different  studies.  The  Academy 
being  burnt,  Mr.  Robison,  with  his  pupils,  re- 
moved to  an  ancient  palace  of  Peter  the  Great  at 
Constradt,  a  most  miserable,  desolate  island,  where, 
finding  no  agreeable  society,  he  availed  himself  of 
the  first  opportunity,  of  quilting  so  unpleasant  a 
situation,  and  accepted  an  invitation  from  the  Ma- 
gistrates of  Edinburgh,  to  the  Professorship  of 
Natural  Philosophy  in  the  University  in  that  city, 
which  ranks  among  the  first  Universities  in  the 
world.  To  this  very  honorable  office  he  acceded 
in  August,  1774,  and  from  that  time  continued  his 
lectures,  without  interruption,  till  1792,  when  ill- 
ness obliged  him  to  ask  for  an  assistant.  To  enable 


22  ILLUMINISM. 

But  since  they  were,  by  reputation, 
A  most  polite  and  gallant  nation, 

Tiirn  to  give  such  a  salary  to  his  assistant,  as  would 
make  the  place  worth  the  acceptance  of  a  man  of 
talents,  the  King  was  pleased  to  give  him  a  pension 
of  1001.  a  year.  After  five  years  confinement,  by  a 
painful  disorder,  he  resumed  his  chair,  in  1797. 

"  In  1796,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Philo- 
sophical Society  at  Philadelphia,  of  which  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson is  President ;  and  in  1797,  a  member  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  Manchester.  In  1799,  after  the 
publication  of  his  book,  the  University  of  Glasgow, 
x  where  he  received  his  education,  conferred  on  him> 
unsolicited,  the  honor  of  a  Doctor's  degree  in 
Law,  in  which,  contrary  to  the  usual  custom  in 
these  cases,  is  given  a  very  particular  and  flattering 
account  of  his  nine  years  studies  in  that  University. 
This  peculiar  evidence  of  esteem  and  respect  was 
given  in  this  way,  in  order  that  his  Diploma  might 
have  all  the  civil  consequences  which  long  standing 
could  give.  When  he  published  his  book,  in  1797, 
he  was  Secretary  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh. 
In  April,  1800,  without  solicitation  of  a  single  friend, 
he  was  unanimously  elected  a  Foreign  Member 
(there  are  but  six)  of  the  Imperial  Academy  of 
Sciences,  at  St.  Petersburg,  which,  in  point  of  re- 
putation, is  esteemed  the  third  on  the  continent  of 
Europe  in  the  room  of  the  much  lamented  and 
highly  celebrated  Dr.  Black.  To  prepare  for  the 
press  and  superintend  the  publication  of  the  Che- 


ILLUMINISM.  23 

And  since  the  fickle,  fluttering  elves, 
Were  almost  worshipp'd.... by  themselves; 

mical  writings  of  this  great  man,  required  the  ablest 
Chemist  in  Great  Britain.  This  distinguished  hon- 
our has  been  conferred  on  Professor  Robison,  who 
has  undertaken  this  important  work.  This  appoint- 
ment, for  which  no  man  perhaps  is  more  competent, 
together  with  the  numerous,  learned,  and  copious 
articles  which  he  has  furnished  for  the  Encyclopedia 
Britanica,  fully  evince  that  in  reputation  and  solid 
learning,  he  ranks  among  the  first  literary  charac- 
ters in  Europe.  Add  to  all  this,  he  sustains  a  MORAL 
character,  so  fair  and  unblemished,  that  any  man  way 
»afely  be  challenged  to  lay  any  thing  to  his  charge  of 
which  an  honest  man  need  be  ashamed." 

"  The  following  account  of  Professer  Robison,  is 
from  a  work  entitled  "  Literary  Memoirs  of  Living 
Authors  of  Greet  Britain,"  Sec.  in  two  volumes,  8vo. 
published  in  London,  1793,  for  R.  Faulder  : 

"  John  Robison,  Esq.  M.  A.  Secretary  of  the 
Royal  Society  at  Edinburgh,  and  Professor  of  Natu- 
ral Philosophy,  in  the  University.  Professor  Robi- 
son is  distinguished  for  his  accurate  and  extensive 
knowledge,  especially  on  subjects  of  science.  He 
contributed  to  the  Encyclopedia  Britanica  the  valua- 
ble articles,  Physics  Pneumatics,  Precession  of  the 
Equinoxes,  Projectiles,  Pumps,  Resistance  of  Flu- 
ids, River,  Roof,  Rope-making,  Rotation,  Seaman- 
ship, Signals,  Sound,  Specific  Gravity,  Statics, 
Steam,  Steam-Engine,  Strength  of  Materials,  Tel- 


24  ILLUMINISM. 

'Twas  thence  concluded,  by  Rosseau, 
That  all  refinement  did  but  go 

escope,  Tide,  Articulating-Trumpet,  Variation  of 
Compass,  and  Water-works,  also  Philosophy,  in  as- 
sociation with  Dr.  Gleig. 

"  In  the  autumn  of  the  year  1797,  Professor  Robi- 
son  published  an  octavo  volume,  entitled  "  Proofs 
of  a  Conspiracy,"  Sec.  This  volume  has  been 
favourably  received,  and  although  too  hasty  a  per- 
formance for  a  work  of  so  much  consequence,  is 
well  entitled,  both  from  its  subject  and  its  authenti- 
city, to  the  serious  attention  of  every  reader.  It  ar- 
rives at  the  same  remarkable  conclusion  as  the  cele- 
brated Memoirs  of  the  Abbe  Barruel,  illustrating 
the  history  of  Jacobinism,  though  the  authors  were 
perfectly  unconnected  with  each  other,  and  pursued 
their  enquiries  in  very  different  ways.  It  has  raised 
(we  are  sorry  for  such  an  appearance)  a  considerable 
clamour  and  enmity  against  the  Professor  ;  though 
it  was  written,  we  are  fully  convinced  from  the  best 
of  motives.  We  cannot  conclude  this  article  with- 
out observing  that  the  principles,  and  honest  zeal 
which  Professor  Robison  has  displayed  upon  this 
occasion,  are  highly  creditable  to  him,  and  merit  the 
warmest  acknowledgments  from  society  in  general.'1 


ILLUMINISM.  35 

To  alter  nature's  simple  plan, 

And  scoundrelize  the  creature  man.... 

"  That  freedom  w/.'A  which  France  was  cur&t. 

I  shall  in  the  additional  notes  at  the  end  of  the 
volume  endeavour  to  point  out  the  connection  be- 
tween Illuminism  and  those  causes  which  produced 
the  French  revolution,  and  the  present  establish- 
ment of  tyranny  in  France. 

is  There  was  a  gaunt  Genevan  priest. 

Jean  Jaques  Rousseau,  the  father  of  modern  De- 
mocracy. For  some  further  account  of  the  levelling 
tenets  of  this  profligate  wretch,  see  Abbe  Barruel's 
History  of  Jacobinism,  vol.  2.  chap.  iii.  and  "  Ros- 
seau's  confessions." 

14  Mad  as  our  New  Lights  are  at  least. 

By  New  Lights,  I  mean  not  merely  the  particu- 
lar sect  or  denomination  of  fanatics,  -who  are  known 
exclusively  by  that  appellation  ;  but  all  your  itiner- 
ant, ignorant,  bawling,  field  and  barn  preachers, 
whatever  may  be  their  professed  tenets,  who  go 
about  "  creeping  into  men's  houses,  leading  cap- 
tive silly  women,"  exerting  themselves  to  destroy 
regular  and  established  societies,  alienating  the 
minds  of  the  people  from  their  established  pastors, 
and  indeed  from  all  clergymen  regularly  inducted 
D 


36  1LLUMINISM. 

From  whence  he  madly  theoriz'd, 
That  man  were  best  uncivilized, 

•4*' 

to  their  sacred  office.  These  wretches  are  gene- 
rally demagogues,  and  the  characters  of  most  of 
them  stained  with  vices. 

Fanatics  have  ever  been,  like  Cromwell  and  his 
faction,  fomenters  of  that  spirit  of  turbulence  and 
insurrection  which  leads  to  anarchy,  and  invariably 
terminates  in  despotism. 

Most  of  the  bawling  Itinerants  who  have  fallen 
within  the  sphere  of  our  observation,  are  perfectly 
French  in  their  politics.  They  have  been  correctly 
described  in  the  following  lines  : 

Most  true  it  is,  though  passing  odd, 

That  this  our  godly  band, 
Have  j'oin'd  the  men  WITHOUT  A  co», 

And  imps  of  Talleyrand. 

But  we  have  another  pill  for  them  in  our  5tlr 
Canto. 

25  Delineated  by  Voltaire. 

Voltaire,  in  some  of  his  writing's,  has  affirmed  in 
substance, that  his  countrymen  were  a  strange  com- 
pound of  the  subtilty  of  the  Monkey  and  the  fero- 
city of  the  Tiger.  That  in  his  time,  they  were 
amusing  themselves  and  others  by  their  apish 
airs,  but  that  he  foresaw  the  time  in  which  they 
would  put  off  the  Monkey  and  put  on  the  Tiger, 


ILLUM1NISM.  27 


Like  those  philosophers,  who  prate, 
Of  Innocence  ia  savage  state.80 

to   the    infinite   annoyance  of  mankind.     Here 
seems  that  "  Saul  was  among  the  prophets  1" 


it 


86  Of  Innocence  In  savage  -state. 

1  cannot  resist  the  temptation  of  transcrib- 
ing, from  "  Guthrie's  Tour  through  the  Taurida, 
or  Crimea,  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Bosphorus," 
fee.  the  following  remarks,  relative  to  this  savage 
sort  of  innocenccj  with  which  the  founders  of  De- 
mocracy in  Europe,  and  our  American  Jacobins, 
seem  so  highly  enamoured. 

u  We  saw  nothing  in  passing  this  extensive  stept 
or  plain,  but  an  immense  extent  of  pasturage,  well 
adapted  for  the  wide  range  of  these  Nomades, 
(savage  inhabitants)  with  their  flying  camps  and 
numerous  herds.  But  it  is  by  no  means  with  a 
mind  at  ease,  that  one  passes  through  the  country 
of  a  people,  who  have  kept  the  surrounding  na-. 
tions,  for  ages,  in  continual  alarms  by  their  pre- 
datory excursions. 

44  It  is  imposible,  in  a  tour  through  the  wilds  of 
vScythia,  not  to  smile  at  the  ideas  which  speculating 
philosophers,  from  their  cabinets,  have  spread 
abroad  on  the  innocence  and  happiness  of  the  pas- 
toral  state  ;  probably  by  confounding  men  who  fol- 
low the  occupation  of  shepherds  in  civil  society, 


2S  ILLUM1NISM. 

E'en  took  it  in  his  crazy  noddle, 
A  savage  was  perfection^  model ; 

with  the  shepherds  of  Holy  Writ,  and  the  pastoral 
Tartars  or  Arabs,  who  have,  at  different  periods, 
drenched  the  world  in  blood,  and  put  whole  nations 
to  the  sword.  This  ridiculous  ignorance  is  of  a 
piece  with  the  euloginms  of  the  same  specnlatists 
on  man  in  a  state  of  nature,  whom  we  are  sorry  to 
acknowledge,  after  the  new  light  thrown  on  the  sub- 
ject by  our  late  circumnavigators,  joined  with  other 
circumstances,  to  be  the  most  savage  and  danger- 
ous animal  in  nature,  often  feeding  on  his  vanquish- 
ed enemies.  We  find  however,  that  he  is  always 
mild,  humane,  and  rational,  in  firofiortion  to  his  ad' 
-sanccment  to  civilization  ;  although  even  that  seems 
to  have  itt  limits,  after  tvhich  he  again  becomes  a  sav- 
age. OF  THIS  WE  have  a  RECENT  INSTANCE  IN' 

THE  MOST  HIGHLY  POLISHED  NATION  IN  EfROPE, 
DESTROYING  ALL  HUMAN  AND  EIVINE  INSTITU- 
TIONS." 

The  state  of  society  which  is  here  described,  it 
firecitely  that  which  Democracy  let  loose,  would  intro- 
duce into  this  country.  But  our  most  refined  Demo- 
crats appear  to  have  a  wish  to  save  the  intermediate 
stages  which  the  French  have  passed  ;  and,  by 
"  Destroying  all  human  and  divine  institutions,'; 
step  into  a  state  of  nature  at  once. 


,       . 


; 


1LLUMINISM.  29 


And  nature  without  cultivation, 
The  ne  plus  ultra  of  creation^ 

Anticipated,  happy  dealings, 

When  mankind  ruVd  by  social  feelings*' 

27  When  mankind,  ruVd  by  social  feelings. 

See  Rousseau's  Emilias,  Godwin's  Political  Jus- 
lice,  and  other  writings  of  the  canting  philosophists 
of  the  same  school.  It  is  one  of  the  inconsistencies 
of  these  black-hearted,  and  wrong-headed  enthusi- 
asts, to  be  ever  prating  about  maintaining  society 
without  law  or  subordination,  by  the  social  feelings, 
•while  they  are  busily  employing  themselves  to  an- 
nihilate those  feelings.  But  I  cannot  better  ex- 
press my  ideas  on  this  subject,  than  in  the  follow- 
ing words  of  Professor  Robison  : 

Indeed  of  all  the  consequences  of  Illumination, 
he  most  melancholy,  is  the  revolution  which  it 
cems  to  operate  in  the  heart  of  man.  The  forcible 
sacrifice  of  every  affection  of  the  heart  to  an  ideal 
-divinity,  a  mere  creature  of  the  imagination.  It 
seems  a  prodigy,  yet  it  is  a  matter  of  experience, 
that  the  farther  we  advance,  or  vainly  suppose  that 
we  do  advance  in  the  knowledge  of  our  mental 
powers,  the  more  are  our  moral  feelings  flattened 
and  done  away.  I  remember  reading,  long  ago, 
a  Dissertation  on  the  Nursing  of  Infants  by  a 
Academician,  Le  CoiotfCj  of  Versailles. 
D  2 


SO  ILLUMINISM. 

Would  be  perfected,  sans  a  flaw, 
Without  the  Tyranny  of  Law. 

From  such  sagacious  theorizing, 
Was  form'd  a  plan  of  his  devising, 
By  which  society  destroy 'd 
Perfection  might  be  unalloy'd. 


Indeed  this  arch  illuminator 
Seem'd  fitted  by  the  hand  of  Nature 
To  change  the  tone  of  public  mind. 
And  revolutionize  mankind. 

He  indelicately  supports  his  theories,  by  the  case 
of  his  own  son,  a  weak,  puny  infant,  whom  his 
mother  was  obliged  to  keep  continually  applied  to 
her  bosom,  so  that  she  rarely  could  get  two  hours 
of  sleep  during  the  time  of  suckling  him.  M.  Le 
Cointre  says,  that  she  contracted  for  this  infant, 
vne  fiartialitt  tout  a-fait  deraisonable,  Plato,  So- 
crates, or  Cicero,  would  probably  have  explained 
this  by  the  habitual  exercise  of  pity,  a  very  en- 
dearing emotion.  But  our  Academician,  better 
illuminated,  solves  it  by  stimuli,  on  the  papillx, 
and  on  the  nerves  of  the  skin,  and  by  the  meet- 
ing of  the  humifying  aura,  Sec.  and  does  not  seem 
to  think  that  young  Le  Cointre  was  much  in- 
debted to  his  mother." 


ILLUMINISM. 

Good  reader  we'll  attempt  to  etch 
A  short  characteristic  sketch 
Of  this  strange  compound  of  a  man, 
Prime  mover  of  the  illumin'd  clan. 

But  will  not  represent  the  elf, 
Worse  than  he  has  pourtray'd  himself, 
What  time  he  utter'd  his  concessions, 
His  Edmund  Randolph-like  "  Confes- 

[sions."28 

*8  His  Edmund  Randolph-like  "  Confessions." 

Rousseau  wrote  a  book,  with  the  title  of  "  The 
Confessions  of  J.  J.  Rousseau,"  and  a  very  pre- 
cious  legacy  is  therein  bequeathed  to  mankind.  The 
outlines  of  our  short  sketch  of  his  character  are 
taken  chiefly  from  these  memoirs.  A  writer  in  the 
Encyclopaedia  Britannica  has  the  following  remarks 
on  that  performance. 

*'  In  the  preface  to  these  memoirs,  which  abound 
with  characters  well  drawn3  and  written  with 
warmth,  with  energy,  and  sometimes  with  ele- 
gance, he  presumes  (says  M.  Palissot)  like  a 
peevish  misanthrope,  who  boldly  introduces  him- 
self on  the  ruins  of  the  world,  to  declare  to  man- 
kind, whom  he  supposes  assembled  upon  these 
ruins,  that  in  that  innumerable  multitude,  none 
covJd  dare  to  say  I  am  better  than  that  man.  This 


32  FLLUMINISM. 

He  was,  by  >s  own  account,  at  once 
An  artful,  and  a  stupid  dunce, 
Fickle  and  sullen,  airy,  grave, 
A  fool,  philosopher,  and  knave.** 

affectation  of  seeing  himself  alone  in  the  universe, 
and  of  continually  directing  every  thing  to  himself, 
may  appear  to  some  morose  minds  a  fanaticism  of 
pride  of  which  we  have  no  examples,  at  least  since 
the  time  of  ^Cardan.  But  this  is  not  the  only 
blame  which  may  be  attached  to  the  author  of  the 
Confessions.  With  uneasiness  we  see  him,  under 
the  pretext  of  sincerity  dishonour  the  character  of 
his  benefactress,  lady  Warrens,  Sec.  Again  the  same 
writer  remarks.  "It  is  certain  that  if  Rousseau 
has  given  a  faithful  delineation  of  some  persons, 
he  has  viewed  others  through  a  cload,  which  form- 
ed in  his  mind  perpetual  suspicions.  He  imagined 
he  thought  and  spoke  truly  ;  but  the  simplest  tiring 
in  nature,  says  M.  Servant,  if  distilled  through  his 
•violent  and  suspicions  hand,  might  bccsme  fivison." 

A  very  proper  person  truly  to  write  political  es- 
-says,  "  Social  compacts,"  &c.  to  which  mankind 
are  to  have  recourse  for  standards  in  forming  a 
government,  aad  political  societies. 

a«  A  Fool,  Philosopher,  and  knave. 

The  odd  mixture  of  heterogeneous  qualities,  which 
<listinguibhed  this  singular  character  is  thus  describ- 


ILLUMINISM.  3S 

A  mixture  odd  of  jarring  qualities 
Still  tO63'd  about  by  strange  fatalities, 

cd  by  himself.  Speaking  of  an  interview  with  a 
patron,  who  designed  to  promote  him  if  found  wor- 
thy of  promotion,  he  thus  describes  his  own  beha- 
viour and  that  of  his  friend. 

"  He  took  an  excellent  method  of  making  me 
chatter,  spoke  freely  with  me,  put  me  under  a* 
little  restraint  as  possible,  talked  to  me  of  trifles 
and  on  all  sorts  of  subjects  ;  all  without  seeming 
to  observe  me,  without  the  least  affectation,  and  a» 
if  pleased  with  me,  he  would  converse  without  re- 
straint. I  was  delighted  with  him.  The  result  of 
his  observations  was,  that,  whatever  my  exterior 
and  my  animated  physiognomy  might  promise,  I 
was  if  not  absolutely  a  fool,  at  least  a  boy  of  very 
little  sense,  without  ideas,  almost  without  acquire- 
ments ;  in  a  word,  a  very  shallow  fellow  in  all  re- 
spects, and  that  the  honor  of  becoming  the  parson 
of  a  village,  was  the  greatest  fortune  I  ought  to 
aspire  to.  This  was  the  second  or  third  time  I 
was  thus  judged,  it  was  not  the  last." 

He  explains  this  stupidity  in  the  following  man- 
ner : 

"  Two  things  almost  inalliable,  unite  in  me, 
without  my  being  able  to  perceive  the  manner. 
A  constitution  extremely  violent,  impetuous  and 
lively  passions,  and  ideas  slowly  produced,  confus- 
ed, and  which  never  offer  till  after  the  proper 
time.  You  would  think  my  heart  and  mind  do  not 


34  ILLUMINISM. 

Was  now  all  lead,  was  now  a  bubble, 
But  ever  happiest,  when  in  trouble.30 

belong  to  the  same  individual.  Senti-rrient,  quicker 
than  light  fills  my  soul,  but  instead  of  enlightening, 
fires  and  dazzles  me.  I  feel  every  thing  and  see 
nothing.  I  am  transported  but  stupid  ;  I  must  be 
cool  to  think.  What  astonishes  is  that  I  have  my 
feeling  pretty  sure,  penetration,  and  even  delicate 
Y, it,  provided  they'll  wait  for  me  :  lean  make  an 
excellent  impromptu,  at  leisure,  but  in  an  instant 
I  never  wrote  or  said  any  thing  clever. 

"  Thence  comes  the  extreme  difficulty  I  find  in 
writing.  My  manuscripts  scratched,  blotted,  mix- 
ed, not  legible,  attest  the  trouble  they  cost  me. 
Not  one,  but  I  was  obliged  to  transcribe  four  or 
five  times  before  it  went  to  the  press.  I  never 
could  do  any  thing,  the  pen  in  hand,  opposite  a 
table  and  paper :  'twas  in  my  walks,  /amidst  rocks 
-and  woods  ;  'twas  in  the  night,  during  my  slum- 
bers I  wrote  in  my  brain,  you  may  judge  how 
slowly,  particularly  to  a  man  deprived  of  verbal 
memory,  and  who  in  his  life  never  could  retain  six 
verses  by  heart.  Some  of  my  periods  have  been 
turned  and  winded  five  or  six  nights  in  my  head  be- 
fore they  were  in  a  state  for  going  on  pape-r. 

"  I  am  not  only  troubled  to  render  my  ideas,  but 
also  in  receiving  them.  I  have  studied  mankind, 
and  think  myself  a  tolerable  good  observator  :  ne- 
vertheless I  cannot  see  any  thing  in  that  1  ptrceive. 
.1  see  clearly  that  only  which  I  recollect,  and  I  have 


ILLUMINISM.  35 

Never  the  same  two  hours  together 
In  passion's  hurricane  a  feather, 

no  knowledge  but  in  my  recollections."  &c.  Thus 
it  appears  this  philosopher's  wits  were  always  a 
wool  gathering.  He  possessed  undoubtedly  what- 
Dr.  Darwin  would  style  the  temperament  of  genius, 
which  might  qualify  him  for  a  smooth  and  pretty 
writer  of  "  Reveries,"  but  that  best  boon  of  heaven 
common  sense  is  never  the  lot  of  such  a  genius. 

I  may  perhaps  seem  unjustifiably  harsh  in  ap- 
plying the  epithet  knave  to  this  great  modern  phi- 
losopher. But  if  the  reader  will  please  to  consult 
his  confessions  he  will  find  a  sorry  story,  which  he 
tells  of  himself,  which  is  sufficient  to  justify  me  in 
bestowing  on  him  appellations  still  more  severe. 
He  will  there  find  that  our  great  philosopher  stole  a 
ribband,  and  attributed  the  theft  to  a  servant  girl, 
by  which  she  was  ruined.  Ingratitude  is  likewise  a 
trait  in  his  character  entirely  consistent  with  his 
sublime  sentiments  and  perfect  philosophism. 
J£V 

30  But  ever  happiest,  when  in  trouble. 

In  this  he  was  not  quite  alone  in  the  world,  there 
appears  to  be  an  order  of  beings,  whom  nothing  but 
the  stimulus  of  being  in  distress  can  give  ener- 
gy. Some  of  the  English  poets  were  of  that  des- 
cription of  character.  Thomson  proposed  re  write  a 
poem  on  the  man  tuho  loved  to  be  in  distress,  and  if 
we  are  to  judge  of  the  character  by  the  conduct  of 


36  ILLUMINISM. 

'        "t* 

The  lightest  football  now  of  folly, 
Now  sunk  in  morbid  melancholy. sr 

many  of  his  tuneful  brethren,  they  courted,  rather 
than  shunned  misfortune,  perhaps  that  they  might 
enjoy  the  luxury  of  being  ftiticd.      Pope,  Addison, 
Swift,   and  many  others,  however,    were    willing 
enough  to  be  exempted  from  the  iron  hand  of  the 
relentless  power.yclep'd  ADVERSITY,  to  whom  Gray 
has  addressed  one  of  the  finest  odes  in  the   English 
language.  But  to  return  to  Rosseau,  he  gives  this  ac- 
•ountof  his  circumstances,  while  a  vagrant  in  France. 
"  Being  reduced  to  pass  my  nights  in  the  street, 
may  certainly  be  called  suffering,  and  this  was  seve- 
ral times  the  case  at  Lyons,  having  preferred  buying 
bread  with  the  few  pence  I  had  remaining,  to  be- 
stowing them  on  a  lodging;  as  I  was  convinced  there 
was  less  danger  of  dying  for  want  of  sleep  than  of 
hunger.     "What  is  astonishing,  while  in  this  unhap- 
py situation,  I  took  no  care  for  the  future,  was  neither 
uneasy  or  melancholy,  but  patiently  waited  an  an- 
swer to  Madamoiselle  du  Chatelet's  letter,  and  lay- 
ing in  the  open  air,  stretched  on  the  earth,  or  on  a 
bench,  slept  as  soundly  as  if  reposing  on   a  bed  of 
roses.  I  remember  particularly  to  have  past  a  most 
delightful  night  at  some  distance  from  the  city,  in  a 
road  which  had  the  Rhone,  or  Saone,  I  can't  recol- 
lect which,  on  one  side,  and  a  range  of  raised  gar- 
dens, with  terraces  on  the  other.     It  had  been  a 
very  hot  day,  the  evening  was  delightful,  the  dew 
moistened  the  fading  grass,  no  wind  was  stirring, 


ILLUMiNISM.  37 

His  head  a  wilderness  of  schemes, 
A  magazine  of  madman's  dreams,83 

the  air  was  fresh  without  chillness,  the  setting  sun 
had  tinged  the  clouds  with  a  beautiful  crimson, 
which  was  again  reflected  by  the  water,  and  the 
trees  that  bordered  the  terrace  were  filled  with 
nightingales  who  were  continually  answering  each 
other's  songs.  I  walked  along  in  a  kind  of  extacy, 
giving  up  my  heart  and  senses  to  the  enjoyment  of 
so  many  delights,  and  sighing  only  from  a  regret 
of  enjoying  them  alone.  Absorbed  in  this  pleasing 
reverie,  I  lengthened  my  walk  till  it  grew  very  late, 
without  perceiving  I  was  tired  ;  at  length,  however, 
1  discovered  it,  and  threw  myself  on  the  step  of  a 
kind  of  niche,  or  false  door,  in  the  terrace  wall. 
How  charming  was  the  couch  !  the  trees  formed  a 
stately  canopy,  a  nightingale  sat  directly  over  me, 
and  with  his  soft  notes  lulled  me  to  rest :  how  pleas- 
ing my  repose,  my  awaking  more  so.  It  was  broad 
day  ;  on  opening  my  eyes  I  saw  the  water,  the  ver- 
dure, an  admirable  landscape  before  me.  I  arose, 
shook  off  the  remains  of  drowsiness,  and  finding 
I  was  hungry,  retook  the  way  to  the  city,  resolving, 
with  inexpressible  gaiety,  to  spend  the  two  pieces 
of  six  blar.cs  I  had  yet  remaining  in  a  good  break- 
fast. I  found  myself  so  chearful  that  I  went  all  the 
way  singing  ;  I  even  remember  I  sang  a  cantata  of 
Baptistin's  called  the  Baths  of  Thomery,  which  I 
knew  by  heart." 

£ 


38  ILLUMINISM. 

Was  stuff 'd  with  many  a  paradox, 
Like  plagues  in  Dame  Pandora's  box. 

But  still  his  eloquence  was  winning 
As  his,  xvho  tempted  Eve  to  sinning, 
And  us'd  too  oft  the  self  same  way 
To  lead  the  human  race  astray. 

And  oft  his  Jack-o-Iantern  head 
Its  owner  many  a  goose  chase  led, 

^Now  sunk  in  morbid  melancholy. 

Thomson  has  given  us  no  bad  picture  of  Rous- 
seau and  some  other  pretended  philosophers  of  the 
visionary  cast  in  his  personification  of  Hypochon- 
dria. 

•*  And  moping  here  did  Hypochondria -it 

•'  Mother  of    pleen,  in  robes  of  various  dye, 

••  Who  vex^d  was  full  oft  with  ugly  fit,          (a  viit. 

«•  And   fome  her  frantic  deem'd,   and  some  her  deem1  d 

Madness  is  frequently  mistaken  for  bufuratiom, 

and  want  of  common  sense,  is  often  thought  a  proof 
cf  T  know  not  wluit  sublime  sense.  Thus  the  ravings 
of  Delia  Crjsca  and  the  moon  struck  tribe  of  son- 
neteers in  the  same  school,  have  beer  thought  to 
be  the  pe;  fcction  of  poetry.  Indeed  Delia  Crusca's 
poetry  and  Rosseau's  politics  are  different  diagnos- 


ILLUMINISM.  39 

Strctch'd  on  the  tenters  of  anxiety 
By  blunder  crime  or  impropriety. 

So  wild  a  scheme  in  politics 
Seen  never  was  on  this  bide  Styx, 
As  his  rude  liar  LI  m  scarum  plan 
Of  his  new  social  savage  man.33 

tics  of  the  same  disease,  and  the  poor  creatures  who 
are  aftected  with  these  symptoms  are  absolutely 
mad! 

**•  A  Magazine  of  madman's  dreams, 

Some  of  these  lay  scatter' d  here  and  there  in  his 
"  Confessions."  It  appears  that  this  geat  man, 
first  ran  away  from  his  father,  then  from  his  pat- 
roness and  mistress  Madame  de  Warrens,  and  that. 
he  was  ever  and  anon  eloping  from  his  benefactors, 
in  pursuit  of  some  chimerical  project. 

33  Of  his  new  social  savage  man, 

Rousseau's  Emilius  and  Social  Contract  are  proofs 
in  point  of  our  assertion.  A  regular  critique  upon 
these  publications  would  exceed  our  limits.  A  word 
or  two,  however,  upon  the  latter  may  not  be  useless, 
especially  as  this  is  the  fountain  from  whence  Pain 
and  other  Sciolists  of  the  new  school  appear  to  have 
derived  their  political  principles. 

"  Man"  (say  Rousseau)  "  is  born  free  and  yet 


40  ILLUMINISM. 

Like  other  Democratic  sages 

He  spurn'd  the  wisdom  of  all  ages 

we  see  him  every  where  in  chains."  Social  Con- 
tract. Book  1.  Chap.  1.  Again  in  the  same  Chap- 
ter he  observes, 

"  If  I  were  only  to  consider  force,  and  the  effects 
of  it  I  should  say  that,  when  a  nation  is  constrain- 
ed to  obey  and  does  obey  it  does  well ;  but  when- 
ever it  can  throw  of  the  yoke,  and  does  throw  it  off 
k  does  better." 

"""-.iw  this  profound  philosopher  does  not  attempt 
,<£  tell  us  what  he  means  by  the  term  yoke,  but  he 
stys  that  man  is  every  where  in  chains,  and  we  are 
led  to  conclude  that  those  nations  who  mean  to  "  do 
better"  than  "  well"  will  immediately  set  them- 
selves about  overturning  their  governments. 

After  a  great  number  of  paradoxical  observations) 
the  substance  of  which  had  been  before  made  by 
Montesquieu,  and  have  since  been  enlarged  upon  by 
Tom  Pdn  and  his  disciples,  we  are  presented  with 
paradox  of  paradoxes,  as  follows, 

"  Where  shall  we  find  a  form  of  association  which 

will  defend  and  protect  with  the  whole  aggregate 
"  force  the  person  and  the  property  of  each  individ- 
"  ual,  and  by  which  every  person,  while  united  with 
"ALL,  shall  obey  only  HIMSELF,  and  remain  as  free 
"  as  before  the  union  ?  Book  1.  Chap.  6. 

Hie  labor,  hoc  ofnts  est.  I  have  my  doubts  whether 
all  this  will  ever  be  found.  Rosseau  however  says, 

"  Every  malefactor  who,  by  attacking  the  social 


ILLUMINISM.  41 

And  found  perfection  had  beginning 
In  systems  of  his  own  dear  spinning 

right  becomes  a  rebel   and  a  traitor  to  bis  country 
cetscs  by  that  act  to  be  a  party  in  willing  the  Uws> 
and  makes  war,  in  fact,   with  himself."     Book  2. 
Chap.  5. 

Here  we  learn  that  the  criminal  who  is  condemn- 
ed by  the  laws  of  his  country,  has  signed  his  own 
act  of  condemnation  by  consenting  to  become  a  Tnem- 
of  the  society  from  which  he  is  cut  off  as  an  ex- 
crescence, and  if  he  is  executed  for  crimes  com  mit- 
ed  against  the  society  of  which  he  is  a  member,  he 
is  guilty  of  a  .felo  de  ae,  in  having  consented  to  be- 
come a  member  of  such  society. 

We  likewise  in  Book  2.  Chap.  3.  are  informed  that 
the  general  will  cannot  errj  (-vox  fiofiuli,  -vox  del} 
and  that  it  tends  invariably  to  the  public  advantage. 
Yet  we  are  told  almost  in  the  same  breath  that  the 
people,  a  majority  of  whosj  suffrage ->  compose  this 
infallible  general  will  are  often  dtcdved.  That  is 
that  the  expressions  of  the  will  of  a  fallible  body 
are  always  infallible. 

The  French  revolutionary  jargon  about  liberty 
and  equality  is  borowed  from  this  production. 

But  we  shall  not  fatigue  oar  readers  by  a  detail  of 
of  all  the  absurdities,  and  contradictions,  with 
which  this  treatise  is  teeming.  The  author  appears 
to  think  that  a  nation  is  a  kind  of  machine,  and  may 
be  governed  by  mechanic '1  principles,  but  has  no 
clear  icl^a  of  the  wonderful  mechaiui.n  which  he 
£  2 


4  '  1LLUMINISM. 

That  whatsoever  ?V,  is  wrong 
Was  still  the  burthen  of  his  song, 

attempts  to  explain.  Hence  we  are  every  where 
lost  in  a  jargon  of  words  without  meaning,  and  per- 
plexed by  distinctions  without  difference.  He  was 
certainly  correct  in  complaining;  that  his  ideas  were 
confused.  But  it  is  really  astonishing  that  the  vain 
philosophy  of  this  and  similar  writers,  should  ha?e 
the  effect  of  exciting  the  mad  million  to  overturn 
all  existing  systems,  without  any  distinct  idea  of 
what  they  were  to  substitute  in  the  place  of  what 
they  destroyed.  They  would  demolish  a  palace  be- 
fore they  had  provided  materials  for  erecting  even  a 
hovel  on  its  site. 

The  author  of  the  Pursuits  of  Literature  has 
the  following  remarks  on  this  writer,  "  Rousseau, 
"  by  the  unjustifiable,  arbitrary  and  cruel  proceed- 
"  ings  against  him,  his  writings  and  person  in 
»'  France,  where  he  was  a  stranger  and  to  whose 
;t  tribunals  he  was  not  amenable,  was  stimulated  to 
"  pursue  his  researches  into  the  origin  and  expedi- 
"  ence  of  such  government,  and  of  such  oppression, 
"  which,  otherwise,  he  probably  never  would  have 
''  discussed  ;  till  he  reasoned  himself  into  the  des- 
"  perate  doctrine  of  Political  equality,  and  gave  to 
»'  the  world  his  fatal  present  the  "  Social  Contract." 
"  Of  this  work  the  French  since  the  revolution  have 
"  never  lost  sight.  With  them  it  is  first,  and  last, 
"  and  middle,  and  without  end  in  all  their  thoughts 
"  and  public  actions.  Rousseau  is,  I  believe  the  only 


ILLUMINISM.  4C 

From  whence  his  inference  seem'd  to  be 
Whatever  is  must  cease  to  be  :M 

And  therefore  Throne  and  Principality, 
In  gulph  of  Jacobin  equality, 

*'  man  to  whom  they  have  paid  an  implicit  and  unde- 
"  deviating  reverence ;  and  without  a  figure  have 
"  worshipped  in  the  Pantheon  of  their  new  idolatry, 
"  like  a  new  Chemos,  the  obscure  dread  of  Gallia's 


34  Whatever  is  must  cease  to  be. 

Let  us  grant  to  our  revolutionists  that  all  the 
flowers  ivhich  be  were  originally  founded  on  oppres- 
sion, and  that  by  tracing  the  titles,  we  shall  find 
some  defect  which  in  the  opinion  of  casuists  like 
Rousseau,  ought  to  weaken  their  claims.  Yet  they 
must  allow  there  ought  to  be  power  somewhere  in 
society,  which  shall  be  sufficient  to  coerce,  restrain 
and  punish  the  turbulent  and  vicious  ;  and  those 
who  are  solicitous  to  pull  down  and  destroy  such 
power,  ough  surely  to  be  able  to  establish  a  better 
claim  in  those  who  are  to  succeed  in  its  possession 
Besides  power  is  more  frequently  abused  by  an  up- 
start, who  has  intrigued,  forced  and  perhaps  assasi- 
nated  his  way  into  office,  than  by  one  who  enjoys  it 
by  more  justifiable  means.  The  head  of  a  man  not 
accustomed  to  elevation  is  apt  to  be  giddy  if  he  is 
exalted,  and  the  little  finger  of  a  Buonaparte  is  gen- 
erally heavier  than  the  loins  of  a  Louis. 


44  ILLUMiNISM. 

Must  topsy  turvy,  down  be  tumbled 
And  all  the  powers  which  be — be  humbled. 

Of  modesty  he  loos'd  the  zone 
And  made  the  female  world  his  own, 
By  Chesterfieldian-like  civility 
And  softening  lust  to  sensibility  .** 

35  And  softening  lust  to  sensibility. 

The  following  beautiful  lines  are  from  "  Jacobin- 
ism)" a  poem  printed  in  England  1801. 

"  With  subtlest  passion  to  inflame  the  heart 
The  Swiss  magician  wakes  his  wondrous  art, 
How  throbs  the  unpractised  botom,  warm  and  frail, 
O'er  Eloisa's  soft  seductive  tale  ! 
Soft  as  the  music  of  the  vocal  grove, 
He  pours  the  thrilling  strains  ef  lawless  love  ; 
Soft  as  enamour'd  virgin's  melting  lay, 
Or  Zephyr  panting  on  the  lap  of  May." 

To  this  quotation  we  are  tempted  to  add  one  from 
Coleman's  Broad  Grins,  which  although  expresbed 
in  a  very  different  stile,  is  not  less  to  the  purpose 
than  the  preceding. 

"  Were  I  a  pastor  of  a  boarding  school, 
"  I'd  quash  such  books  in  toto; — if  I  could'nt, 
11  Let  me  but  catch  one  Miss  that  broke  my  rule^ 
'*  I'd  flog  her  sound!/  ;  dam  me  if  1  would'nt." 


ILLUMINISM.  45 

And  set  the  head  upon  the  whirl 
Of  many  a  vain,  and  gkldy  girl, 
Who  weds  her  father's  coachman  since 
She  can't  so  well  command  a  prince. 

A  gang  of  Sophists  him  succeed, 
French  Democrats,  detested  breed, 
Encyclopedists,  justly  dreaded,38 
Steely  nerv'd,  and  cobweb-headed. 

36  Encyclopedists,  justly  dreaded. 

The  arts  of  which  the  French  Encyclopedists 
made  use,  for  disseminating  the  poison  of  their 
principles,  are  detailed  at  large  by  the  Abbe  Barruel, 
vol.  I.  chap.  iv.  to  which  we  must  refer  the  reader 
who  wishes  for  more  ample  information  on  this  sub- 
ject. Some  of  the  tricks,  however,  of  these  Illumi- 
nees,  were  so  perfectly  similar  to  those  of  the  shuf- 
fling Jacobins  of  the  present  period,  who  mutilate, 
garble,  and  misquote  Adams'  Defence  of  the  Ame- 
ean  Constitution,  in  order  to  show  that  the  author  of 
a  treatise,  written  in  defence  of  a  Republican  form 
of  government,  is  at  heart  a  monarchist,  that  we 
thi'.ik  it  cannot  be  malapropos5  to  exhibit  a  few  of 
their  mischievous  devices. 

"  Look  for  the  article  God,  (Genevan  edition)  and 
you  will  find  very  sound  notions,  together  with  the 
direct,  physical  and  metaphysical  demonstration  of 
his  existence  ;  and  indeed,  under  such  an  article,  it 


46  ILLUMIN1SM. 

With  these  unite  a  German  swarm, 
Of  devils,  guis'd  in  human  form, 

would  have  been  too  manifest,  to  have  broached 
any  thing  bordering  on  Atheism,  Spinonism,  or  Epi- 
curism ;  but  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  article 
DEMONSTRATION,  and  there  all  the  physical  and 
metaphysical  cogent  arguments  for  the  existence  of 
a  God  disappear.  We  are  there  taught,  that  all 
direct  demonstrations  suppose  the  idea  of  infinitude -, 
and  that  such  an  idea  cannot  be  of  the  clearest,  either 
for  the  naturalist,  or  the  metaphysician.  This,  in  a 
word,  destroys  all  confidence  the  reader  had  in  the 
proofs  adduced  of  the  existence  of  God.  There 
again,  they  are  pleased  to  tell  you,  that  a  single  in- 
sect, in  the  eyes  of  a  philosopher,  more  forcibly 
proves  the  existence  of  a  God,  than  all  the  metaphy- 
sical arguments  whatever  ;  (ibid.)  but  you  are  then- 
referred  to  CORRUPTION,  where  you  learn  how 
much  you  are  to  beware  of  asserting,  in  a  positive 
manner,  that  corruption  can  never  beget  animated 
bodies  ;  and  that  such  a  production  of  animated 
bodies  by  corruption  seems  to  be  countenanced  by  dai~ 
ly  expe riments  ;  and  it  is  from  these  experiments  pre- 
cisely, that  the  Atheists  conclude  that  the  existence  of 
God  is  unnecessary,  either  for  the  creation  of  man  or 
animals.  Prepossessed  by  these  references  against  the 
existence  of  God,  led  the  leader  turn  to  the  articles 
of  ENCYCLOPAEDIA,  and  EPICURISM.  In  the  former, 
he  will  be  told.  That  there  is  no  being  in  nature  that 


ILLUMINISM.  47 

Cold-blooded  and  wrong-headed  wights, 
detested  proselytes  ; 


can  be  called  the  first  or  last,  and  that  a  machine, 
infinite  in  every  way,  must  be  the  Deity.  In  the  latter, 
the  atom  is  to  be  the  Deity.  It  will  be  the  primary 
cause  of  all  things,  by  whom,  and  of  whom,  every 
thing  is  active  essentially  of  itself,  Alone  Unalterable, 
Alone  Paternal)  Alone  Immutable  ;  and  thus  the  rea- 
der will  be  insensibly  led  from  the  God  of  the  gos- 
pel, to  the  Heathenish  fiction  of  an  Epicurus,  or 
of  a  Spinosa. 

The  same  cunning  is  to  be  found  in  the  article  of 
the  SOUL.  Where  the  sophisters  treat  directly  of 
its  essence,  they  give  the  ordinary  proofs  of  its  s/iir- 
ituality,  and  of  its  immortality.  They  will  even  add 
to  the  article  BRUTE,  that  the  soul  cannot  be  sup- 
posed material,  nor  can  'he  brute  be  reduced  to  the 
quality  of  a  mere  machine,  tuithout  running  the  hazard 
of  making  man  an  automata.  And  under  NATURAL 
LAW,  we  read,  That  if  the  determinations  of  man, 
or  even  his  oscillations  arise  from  any  thing  material 
extraneous  to  his  soul,  (here  will  be  neither  good  nor 
cvit,  neither  just  nor  unjust^  neither  obligation  nor 
right.  Then  referred  to  the  article  LOCKE,  in  order 
to  do  away  all  this  consequence,  we  are  told,  That 
it  is  of  no  importance  whether  matter  thinks  or  not, 
for  ivhat  is  that  to  justice  or  injustice,  to  the  immor~ 
tality  oj  the  soul,  and  to  all  the  truth  of  the  system, 
whether  fwlifical  or  religious.  The  reader,  enjoying 
^he  liberty  and  equality  of  his  reason,  is  left  to  doubt 


48  ILLUMINISM. 

Philosophists,  Illuminati, 
Beings,  of  whom  at  any  rate,  I 

with  regard  to  the  spirituality,  and  no  longer  knows 
whether  he  should  not  think  himself  all  matter. 

But  he  will  decide,  when  under  the  article  ANI- 
MAL, he  finds,  That  life  and  animation  are  only  fihy  ste- 
al properties  of  matter  ;  and  lest  he  should  think  him- 
self debased  by  his  resembling  a  plant  or  an  animal, 
to  console  him  in  his  fall,  they  will  tell  him,  article 
ENCYCLOPEDIA  and  ANIMAL,  That  the  only  differ- 
ence between  certain  -vegetables,  and  animals  such  as  ust 
is^that  they  sleep)  and  that  we  wake, that  we  are  animals 
that  feel)  and  that  they  are  animals  that  feel  not  ;  and 
still  further  in  article  ANIMAL,  That  the  sole  differ- 
ence between  a  stock  and  a  man,  is,  that  the  one 
never  falls,  while  the  other  never  falls  after  the  same 
manner. 

After  perusing  these  articles  bondjidc,  the  reader 
must  be  insensibly  drawn  into  the  vortex  of  mate- 
lialism. 

In  treating  of  Liberty  or  Free  Agency,  we  find  the 
same  artifice.  When  they  treat  it  directly,  they  will 
say,  "  Take  away  liberty,  all  hnman  nature  is  over- 
thrown, and  there  will  be  no  trace  of  order  in  so- 
ciety. Recompense  will  be  ridiculous,  and  chastise- 
ment unjust,  The  ruin  of  liberty  carries  with  it  that 
of  all  order  of  police,  and  legitimates  tl»e  most  mon- 
strous crimes  ;  so  monstrous  a  doctrine  is  not  to  be 
debated  in  the  schools,  but  punished  by  the  magis- 
trates," &c.  Then  follows  a  portion  of  Democratic 


ILLUMINISM.  49 

May  well  affirm  a  viler  set, 
Ne'er  this  side  Pandemonium  met. 

rant :  "  Oh,  liberty,"  they  exclaim,  "  Oh,  liberty, 
gift  of  Heaven  !  Oh,  liberty  of  action  !  Oh,  liberty 
of  thought !  thou  alone  art  capable  of  great  things  !" 
(See  article  AUTHORITY,  and  the  PRELIMINARY 
DISCOURSE.)  But  at  the  article  CHANCE,  (fortuit) 
all  this  liberty  of  action  and  of  thought ',  is  only  a 
povjtr  that  cannot  be  exercised,  that  cannot  be  known 
by  actual  exercise  ;  and  Diderot,  at  the  article  EVI- 
DENCE, pretending  to  support  Liberty,  will  very  pro- 
perly say,  "  This  concatenation  of  causes  and  ef- 
fects, supposed  by  the  philosophers,  in  order  to  form 
ideas  representing  the  mechanism  of  the  universe, 
is  as  fabulous  as  the  Tritons  and  the  Naiads.  '  But, 
both  he  and  D' Alembert,  descant  again  on  that  con- 
catenation, and  reluming  to  CHANCE  (fortuit)  tell 
us,  "  That  though  it  is  imperceptible  it  is  not  less 
real ;  that  it  connects  all  things  in  nature,  tliai  all 
even  s  depend  on  it ;  just  as  the  wheels  of  a  watch, 
as  to  the  motion,  depend  on  each  other  :  that  from 
the  first  moment  of  our  existence,  we  are  by  no 
means  masters  of  our  motionn  ;  that  were  there  a 
thousand  worlds  similar  to  this,  and  simultaneously 
existing,  governed  by  the  same  laws,  every  thing  in 
them  would  be  done  in  the  same  way  ;  and  that 
man,  in  virtue^of  these  same  laws  -would  perform,  at 
the  same  time,  the  same  actions,  in  each  one  of  these 
worlds."  This  will  nuttually  convince  the  unin- 
formed reader,  of  the  chimxra  of  such  liberty  or 

F 


50  ILLUMINISM. 

Though  scores  of  volumes  would  not  hold, 
What  might  of  them  with  truth  be  told ; 
Though  setting  forth  this  horrid  tale, 
Ma}'  make  New  England  men  turn  pale  ;.... 

Some  of  their  tenets  we  will  trace, 
Which  one  would  think  could  ne'er  have 
This  side  the  Democratic  club,          [place 
Whose  President  is  Beelzebub. 

free  agency,  -which  cannot  be  exercised.  Not  con- 
lent  with  this,  Diderot,  at  the  article  FATALITY,  af- 
ter a  long  dissertation  on  this  concatenation  of  causes, 
ends,  by  saying,  That  it  cannot  be  contested  either 
in  the  physical  world,  or  in  the  moral  and  intellectual 
world.  Hence,  what  becomes  of  that  liberty,  with- 
out which  there  no  longer  exists  just  or  unjust  obli- 
gation or  right?" 

These  examples  will  suffice  to  convince  the  rea- 
der of  the  truth  of  what  we  have  asserted,  as  to  the 
artful  policy  with  which  the  Encyclopedia  had  been 
digested  ;  they  will  show  with  what  cunning  its 
authors  sought  to  spread  the  principles  of  Athe- 
ism, Materialism  and  Fatalism  ;  in  fine,  every  error 
incompatible  with  that  religion,  for  which  they  pro- 
fessed so  great  a  reverence  at  their  outset. 

37  Weishaupt's  detested  proselytes. 

The  character  of  this   abominable  wretch,  who 


ILLUMINISM.  51 

With  other  things,  which  mark  the  fiend, 
That  means  are  sanctioned  by  the  end  ; 38 
And  if  some  good  end  we  would  further, 
No  matter  if  the  ??ieans  are  murther  \ 

That  in  this  philosophic  sera, 

A  God  is  found  a  mere  chimaera,  39 

debauched  his  wife's  sister,  and  attempted  to  murder 
her,  together  with  the  fruits  of  their  illicit  commerce, 
is  but  a  type  of  that  of  many  leading  jacobins  in  this 
country.  His  intimate  friends  aad  disciples,  were 
all  monsters  of  iniquity.  See  Robison's  Proofs^ 
p.  114.  and  130. 

38  That  means  are  sanction'd  by  the  end. 

"  Nothing  was  so  frequently  discoursed  of1'  (in 
the  German  Lodges)  "  as  the  propriety  of  employ- 
ing for  a  good  purpose,  the  means  which  the  wick- 
ed employed  for  evil  purposes." 

ROBISON'S  Proofs. 

This  abominable  tenet  of  the  Illumiuaii,  appears 
to  have  been  the  principal  rule  of  action  of  the 
monster,  Roberspierre,  who  made  France  an  acel- 
dama.  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  his  fancied 
perfection. 

39  A  God  is  found  a  mere  chimacra. 


&  ILLUMINISM. 

By  priests  created  but  for  wildering 
Fools,  ignoramusses  and  children  ; 

Freret,  whose  writings  were  recommended  "by 
the  Illuminati,  tells  us  expressly,  "  The  universal 
cause,  that  God  of  the  Philosophers,  of  Jews,  and 
of  Christians,  is  but  a  chimrera,  and  a  phantom." 
The  same  author  continues,  "  Imagination  daily 
creates  fresh  chimeras,  which  raises  in  them  that 
Impulse  of  fear,  and  such  is  the  phantom  of  the 
Deity." 

To  the  opinion  of  these  philosophists,  might  be 
opposed  that  of  a  host  of  real  philosophers.  But  the 
following  observations  of  Professor  Robison,  are  so 
apposite,  that  we  think  they  supercede  our  own  re- 
marks* 

"  Our  immortal  Newton,  to  whom  the  philoso- 
phers of  Europe  look  up  as  the  honor  of  our  species, 
whom  even  Mr.  Bailly,  the  president  of  the  Na- 
tional Assembly  of  France,  and  mayor  of  Paris, 
cannot  find  words  sufficiently  energetic  to  praise  ; 
this  patient,  sagacious  and  successful  observer  of 
nature,  after  having  exhibited  to  the  wondering 
world,  the  characteristic  property  of  that  principle 
of  material  nature,  by  which  all  the  bodies  of  the 
Solar  system  are  made  to  form  a  connected  and  per- 
manent universe  ;  and  after  having  shewn  that  this 
law  of  action  alone  was  adapted  to  t.his  end,  and  that 
if  gravity  had  deviated  but  one  thousandth  part 
from  the  inverse  duplicate  ratio  of  the  distances, 
the  system  must,  in  the  course  of  a  very  few  revo- 


ILLUMIN1SIM.  53 

That  worlds  of  mind  may  be  explored, 
By  lights,  which  matter  can  afford, 

lutions,  have  gone  into  confusion  and  ruin  ;  sits 
down,  and  views  the  goodly  scene  ;  and  then  closes 
his  principles  of  natural  philosophy  with  this  re- 
flection, (his  scholium  generate.) 

"  This  most  elegant  frame  of  things  could  not 
have  arisen,  unless  by  the  contrivance  and  the  di- 
rection of  a  wise  and  powerful  being ;  and  if  the 
fixed  stars  are  the  centres  of  systems  these  systems 
must  be  similar  ;  and  all  these  constructed  according 
to  the  same  plan,  are  subject  to  the  government  of 
one  Being.  All  these  he  governs,  not  as  the  soulofthe 
world,  but  as  the  Lord  of  all ;  therefore,  on  account 
of  his  government  he  is  called  the  Lord  God.... 
n<*vTuyf*To£  ,•  for  God  is  a  relative  term,  and  refers 
to  his  subjects.  Deity  is  God's  government,  not  of 
his  own  body,  as  those  think  who  consider  him  as 
the  soul  of  the  world,  but  of  his  servants.  The  Su- 
preme God,  is  a  being,  eternal,  infinite,  absolutely 
perfect.  But  a  being,  however  pei  feet  without  go- 
vernment, is  not  God  ;  for  we  sav,  m-j  God,  your 
God,  the  God  of  Israel.  We  cannot  say  tny  eter- 
nal, my  infinite.  We  may  have  some  notions  in- 
deed of  his  attributes,  but  \ve  can  have  none  of  his 
nature.  With  respect  to  bodies,  we  see  only  shapes 
and  colour  ;  hear  only  sounds ;  touch  only  surfaces. 
These  are  attributes  of  bodies  ;  but  of  their  essence 
\re  know  nothing.  As  a  blind  man  can  foim  no 
notion  of  colours,  we  can  form  none  of  the  manner 
F  3 


54  ILLUMINISM. 

f 

And  Power  Omnipotent  must  bend, 
To  what  a  worm  can  comprehend.4* 

in  which  God  perceives,  and  understands,  and  in- 
fluences every  thing. 

"  Therefore  we  know  God  only  by  his  attributes. 
What  are  these  ?  The  wise  and  excellent  structure, 
and  final  aim  of  all  things.  In  these,  his  perfec- 
tions, we  admire  him  and  we  wonder.  In  his  direc- 
tions or  govern  ent,  we  venerate  and  worship  him  ; 
we  worship  him  as  his  servants  ;  and  God,  with- 
out dominion,  without  providence,  and  final  aims,  is 
Fate  ;  not  the  object  either  of  reverence,  of  hope,  or 
of  fear." 

These  are  the  sentiments  of  a  real  philosopher,  not 
a  Tom  Pain,  a  Godwin,  or  a  Voltaire. 

40  To  what  a  worm  can  comprehend. 

It  has  ever  appeared  to  us  as  the  essence  of  folly, 
for  those  who  pretend  to  be  philosophers,  to  deny 
the  being  of  a  God,  because  they  cannot  compre- 
hend h'it'j  he  exists.  As  well  might  they  deny  the 
existence  of  the  atmosphere,  because  it  is  invisible. 
Will  these  presumptuous  mortals  affirm  that  the 
magnetic  needle  docs  not  point  towards  the  pole,  be- 
cause they  cannot  develope  the  cause  of  the  mag- 
netic influence?  Then  may  they  affirm,  that  because 
they  cannot 

Trace  the  secret  mystic  links  which  bind 
The  world  of  matter  to  the  world  of  minil, 


ILLUMINISM.  55 

That  by  some  accidental  clatter, 
Of  pristine,  crude,  chaotic  matter, 
(But  how,  an  Atheist  only  knows) 
This  beauteous  universe  arose.41 

That  there  is  nothing  like  reality, 
In  future  life  and  immortality  ;** 

that  there  is  no  God  and  no  mind  in  the  universe* 

41  This  beauteous  universe  arose. 

"  The  author  of  Good  Sense,  which  D'Alembert 
wishes  to  see  abridged,  in  order  to  sell  it  for  five 
pence  to  the  poor  and  ignorant,  says,  That  the  phe- 
nomena of  nature,  only  prove  the  existence  of  GOD, 
to  a  few  prepossessed  men  ;  that  the  wonders  of 
nature,  so  far  from  speaking  a  God,  are  but  the  ne- 
cessary efforts  of  matter,  infinitely  diversified." 

BARRUEL. 

42  In  future  life  and  immortality. 

Boulanger  tells  us,  "  That  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  so  far  from  stimulating  men  to  the  practice  of 
>irtue,  is  nothing  but  a  barbarous^  desperate  and  fatal 
tenet,  and  contrary  to  all  legislation."  u  In  the  lodg- 
es, (of  the  Illuminati)  death  was  declared  to  be  an 

eternal  sleep." 

ROBISON'S  Proofs. 


56  ILLUMINISM. 

When  death  our  thread  of  fate  shall  sever, 
We  go  to  rest,  and  sleep  forever. 

That  actions  are,  or  are  not  virtuous, 
As  they  conduce  most  good  or  hurt  to  us,43 
The  agent  judging  their  propriety. 
And  operation  in  society. 

And  maxims  hammer'd  out  for  steeling 
The  mind  against  each  social  feeling, 
To  gain  attainable  perfection, 
Would  root  out  natural  affection.44 

43  As  they  conduce  most  good  or  hurt  to  us. 

Helvetius  says,  "  That  the  only  rule  by  which 
virtuous  actions  are  distinguished  from  vicious  ones, 
is  the  law  of  princes,  and  public  utility.  That  -vir- 
tue, that  honesty,  with  regard  to  individuals,  is  no 
more  than  the  habit  of  actions  personally  advantage- 
ous, and  that  self  interest  is  the  scale  by  which  the 
actions  of  those  can  be  measured." 

44  Would  root  out  natural  affection. 

"  The  commandment  of  loving  father  and  mother, 
-is  more  the  work  of  cducationt  than  of  nature." 

HE  LVETIUS. 


I 

1LLUMINISM.  57 

Maintained  that  fathers,  children,  brothers, 
No  nearer  are  to  us  than  others  ; 
And  as  for  that  frail  being,  woman, 
They  held,  she  should  be  held  in  common  ;45 

45  They  held,  she  should  be  held  in  common. 

"  By  a  decree  of  the  French  National  Convention 
(June  6,  1794)  it  is  declared  that  there  is  nothing 
criminal  in  the  promiscuous  commerce  of  the  sexes, 
and  therefore  nothing  that  derogates  from  the  fe- 
male character,  when  woman  forgets  that  she  is  the 
depositary  of  all  domestic  satisfaction,  that  her  honor 
is  the  sacred  bond  of  social  life — that  on  her  mo- 
desty and  delicacy  depend  all  the  respect  and  con- 
fidence that  will  make  a  man  attach  himself  to  soci- 
ety, free  her  from  labour,  share  with  her  the  fruits 
of  all  his  own  exertions,  and  work  with  willingness 
and  delight  that  she  may  appear  en  all  occasions  his 
equal,  and  the  ornament  of  all  his  acquisitions.  In 
the  very  argument,  which  this  selected  body  of 
senators  has  given  for  the  propriety  of  this  decree, 
it  has  degraded  women  below  all  estimation.  "  It 
is  to  prevent  her  from  murdering  the  fruit  of  unlaw- 
ful love,  by  removing  her  shame,  and  by  relieving 
her  from  the  fear  of  want."  The  senators  say,  "  the 
Republic  wants  citizens,  and  therefore  must  not  on- 
ly remove  this  temptation  of  shame,  but  must  take 
care  of  the  mother  while  she  nurses  the  child.  It 
is  the  property  of  the  nation  and  must  not  be  lost." 


I 
58  ILLUMINISM. 

That  vice,  in  all  the  horrid  shapes 
Of  murder,  perjury,  theft  and  rapes, 
Is  right  in  those,  who  can  invent, 
A  mode  t'  escape  from  punishment  ;  ** 

That  man  should  have  no  more  remorse 
For  evil  actions  than  his  horse, 
Because  what  vulgar  folks  call  conscience, 
Is  nothing  more  than  vulgar  nonsense; 

That  modesty  is  all  a  trick 
And  chastity  a  fiddlestick, 

The  woman  all  the  while  is  considered  only  as  the 
SHE  ANIMAL,  the  breeder  of  Sans  cullottes.  This  is 
the  ./MS.'  morality  of  Illumination." 

ROBISON'S  Proofs,  p.  374-5. 

These  degrading  ideas  of  the  female  sex  are  pre- 
cisely the  same,  which  were  taught  in  the  German 
Lodges,  and  furnish  proof  of  the  connection  be- 
tween Illuminism,  and  the  causes  which  excited 
the  French  Revolution. 

4*  A  mode  t'  escape  from  punishment. 

"  The  man  who  is  above  the  law,  can  commit 
•without  remorse  the  dishonest  act,  which  serves  his 
purpose." 

HELVETIUS. 


I-LLUMINISM.  59 

A  vile,  old  fashion  >d  sort  of  trimming 
Meant  to  set  off  your  pretty  women;47 

Like  sly  finesse  in  fille  de  joye\ 
Who  pleases  more  by  being  coy 
Than  if  she  came  with  air  voluptuous 
Sans  ceremonie  dancing  up  to  us  ; 

That  thrones  and  po  wers  must  be  demolish '  d 
And  all  things  sacred  be  abolish'd, 
Each  man  be  all,  and  every  thing, 
A  Subject,  Magistrate  and  King ; 48 

•47  Meant  to  set  off  your  pretty  women. 

"  Modesty  is  only  the  invention  of  refined  vo- 
luptuousness.".... HELVETIUS.  The  Frenchwomen 
have,  however,  pretty  well  divested  themselves  of 
this  appendage.  Madam  Tallien,  accompanied 
by  other  beautiful  women,  laying  aside  all  modesty, 
came  into  the  public  theatre,  presented  themselves 

to  public  view,  with  bared  limbs  a  la  sauvagc  as  the 
alluring  objects  of  desire. 

ROBISON'S  Proofs,  p.  197. 

48  A  Subject,  Magistrate  and  King. 

The  object  of  the  THnminati,  as  appears  from  Bar- 
rucl  anci  Robison,  was  not  only  anti-Christian,  and 


68  ILLUMINISM. 

Such  principles  as  here  are  stated 
By  philosophs  are  propagated, 
Sans  intermission,  or  fatigue, 
By  open  force,  and  dark  intrigue. 

The  monsters  made  it  still  there  aim 
So  fit  for  deeds  without  a  name 
Their  pupils,  train'd  with  wondrous  art 
To  play  the  fell  assassin's  part. 

The  ties  of  nature  disregarding 
'Twas  still  there  aim  the  heart  to  harden, 
And  make  a  murderer  of  man49 
To  propagate  perfection's  plan. 

anti-monarchical,  but  anti-social.  They  wished  to 
annihilate  every  thing  which  went  to  strengthen 
the  bands  of  society,  and  reduce  man  to  a  stale  of 
nature.  The  candidate  for  the  degree  of  ejiofit,  or 
priest,  was  informed  by  his  superior,  that  "  These 
secret  schools  of  fihilosofihy,  shall  one  day  retrieve  the 
fall  of  human  nature,  and  princes  and  nations  shall 
disappear  from  the  face  of  the  earth  ;  and  that  with- 
out -violence.  Reason  shall  be  the  only  book  of  laws, 
the  sole  code  of  man." 

49  And  make  a  murderer  of  man. 

"  A  candidate  for  reception  into  one  of  the  high- 


ILLUMINISM.  61 

No  kind  of  care  nor  pains  were  stinted 
To  poison  every  thing  that's  printed, 

est  orders,  iifter  having  heard  many  threatenings 
denounced  against  all  who  should  betray  the  secrets 
of  the  order,  was  conducted  to  a  place  where  he 
saw  the  dead  bodies  of  several  who  were  said  to 
have  suffered  for  their  treachery.  He  then  saw  his 
own  brother  tied  hand  and  foot  begging  his  mercy 
and  intercession.  He  was  informed  that  the  per- 
son was  about  to  suffer  the  punishment  due  to  this 
offence,  and  that  it  was  reserved  for  him  (the  can- 
didate) to  be  the  instrument  of  tin's  just  vengeance, 
and  that  this  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  manifest- 
ing that  he  was  completely  devoted  to  the  Order. 
It  being  observed  that  his  countenance  gave  signs 
of  inward  horror  (the  person  in  bonds  imploring  his 
mercy  all  the  while)  he  was  told  that  in  order  to  spare 
his  feelings  a  bandage  should  be  put  over  his  eyes.  A 
dagger  was  then  put  into  his  right  hand,  and  being 
hoodwinked,  his  left  hand  was  laid  on  the  palpitat- 
ing heart  of  the  criminal,  and  he  was  then  ordered 
to  strike.  He  instantly  obeyed  ;  and  when  the  ban- 
dage was  taken  from  his  eyes  he  saw  that  it  was  a 
Jamb  tint  he  had  stabbed.  Surely  such  a  trial  and 
such  wanton  cruelty  are  only  fit  for  training  conspi- 
rators." 

ROJJI  SON'S  /Voo/.v,  p.  299. 

No  wonder  that  people  trained  to  blood  in  this 
manner  should  have  been  guilty  of  the  most  horrid 
c 


62  ILLUMINISM. 

By  modes,  which  other  men  would  scorn, 
From  folio,  down  to  book  of  horn.*0 

excesses.  Nothing  in  the  annals  of  history  can 
equal  the  cruelties  committed  by  llluminees 
and  Philosophists.  Well  might  the  Abbe  Bar- 
ruel  affirm,  "  It  was  the  principles  of  the  sect 
that  made  Barnave,  at  the  sight  of  heads  carried  on 
pikes,  ferociously  smile  and  exclaim,  "was  that  blood 
then  so  pure  that  one  might  not  even  spill  one  drop  of 
it  ?  Yes  it  was  those  principles  that  made  Chap- 
pellier,  Mirabeau,  and  Gregoire,  when  they  beheld 
the  brigands  surrounding  the  Palace  of  Versailles 
in  sanguinary  rage,  thirsting  after  murder,  and  par- 
ticularly after  the  blood  of  the  Queen,  exclaim  the 
people  must  have  victims.  It  was  these  principles 
that  even  smothered  the  affection  of  brother  for 
brother,  when  the  adept  Chenier,  seeing  his  own 
brother  delivered  over  to  the  hands  of  the  public 
executioner,  coolly  said,  If  my  brother  be  not  in  the 
true  sense  of  the  revolution,  let  him  be  sacrificed...  .that 
eradicated  the  feelings  of  the  child  for  his  parents, 
when  the  adept  Philip  brought  in  triumph  to  the  club 
of  Jacobins  the  head  of  his  father  and  mother  .' !  This 
insatiable  sect  calls  out  by  the  mouth  of  the  bloody 
Marat  for  two  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  heads, 
declaring  that  before  long  it  will  count  only  by  mil- 
lions. They  knew  well  that  their  systems  and  last 
mysteries  of  equality  can  only  be  accomplished  in 
their  full  extent  by  depopulating  the  world  ;  and  by 
the  mouth  of  Le  Bo,  it  answers  the  inhabitants  of 


ILLUMINISM.  63 

Among  these  human  Demons  were 
Condorcet,  Diderrot,  Voitaire, 

Montauban,  terrified  with  the  want  of  provisions, 
*'  Fear  not  ;  France  has  a  sufficiency  for  twelve  mil- 
lions of  inhabitants.  All  the  rest  (that  is  the  other 
twelve  millions)  must  be  put  to  death,  and  then 
there  will  be  no  scarcity  of  bread." 

BARRUEL,VO!.  iv.  p.  271. 

We  are  likewise  told  by  the  historians  of  that  dis- 
astrous period  that  new  words  were  invented  to 
denote  the  butcheries  which  took  place.  Whole 
hecatombs  of  victims  were  shot  en  masse,  and  this 
was  stiled  Fusillades;  hecatonibs  were  also  drown- 
ed) and  this  species  of  murder  was  called  Noyades. 

One  of  their  own  writers,  a  republican,  gives  the 
following  description  of  the  cruelties  practised  by 
these  adepts  in  iniquity. 

"  Under  the  name  of  a  revolutionary  government, 
all  the  public  functions  were  united  in  the  commit- 
tee of  public  safety,  where  Robespierre  had  for  a 
long  time  dominated.  Then  it  was  that  this  com- 
mittee became  dictatorial,  hurried  into  the  depart- 
ments that  horde  of  ferocious  pro-consuls,  whom 
we  have  seen  betraying  and  slaughtering  the  peo- 
ple, whose  servants  they  were,  and  to  whom  they 
owed  their  political  existence  ;  sometimes  carrying 
with  them  in  their  murderous  circuits,  the  giutlo- 
tine,  at  others  declaring  it  permanent,  which  was 
saying  in  other  words,  that  the  executioner  was  not 
to  have  a  moment's  rest.  These  monsters  in  mis- 


<i4  ILLUMINISM. 

And  other  shrewd,  self-boasting  sages, 
Whose  names  shall  not  disgrace  our  pages-. 

sion,  these  Colossusses  of  crime,  these  phenomena 
of  cruelty,  hunted  men  as  a  German  baron  hunts 
wild  boars.  The  despotic  Turk,  when  he  makes 
his  equal  expire  under  the  bastinado  of  a  Pacha  or 
by  the  chord  of  the  mutes,  does  not  say  to  his 
victim,  thou  art  free. 

u  We  have  already  said  that  all  tyrannies  resemble 
^ach  other ;  all  tyrants  have,  like  our  decemvirs, 
employed  the  arm  of  terror  ;  and  it  is  not  in  this 
point  of  view  that  the  history  of  the  epoch  of  our 
revolution  is  new ;  but  what  has  never  yet  been 
seen,  and  what  probably  will  never  be  seen  again, 
is  a  great  and  enlightened  people,  who  during  six 
months  were  mutilated,  decimated,  shot,  drowned, 
and  guillotined  by  their  representatives  ;  it  is  the 
extreme  ferocity  of  so  many  public  functionaries 
butchering  those  from  whom  they  received  their 
commissions.  Rome  had  a  series  of  tyrants  in  suc- 
cession, or  at  least  at  short  intervals  ;  but  France 
had  at  one  and  the  same  instant  a  host  of  CaliguJas. 
Tacitus  himself  would  have  broken  his  pencil  with 
regret  at  not  being  able  to  paint  all  the  crimes  which 
sprung  from  the  monstrous  junction  of  the  ferocious 
Robespierre  with  the  sanguinary  Couthon  ;  of  the 
barbarous  Billaud  with  the  gloomy  Amar ;  of  the 
tiger  Collot,  with  the  tiger  Carrier  ;  of  the  cut- 
throat Dumas  with  the  cut-throat  'Jo^irhall ;  and  a 
thousand  subalterns  submissive  to  their  orders. 


ILLUMINISM.  65 

Now  they  appear  in  varied  guise, 
Like  their  great  prototype  of  lies, 

Mirabeau  undoubtedly  foresaw  a  part  of  these  hor- 
rors, when  he  saidj  liberty  slept  only  on  mattrasses 
of  dead  carcases." 

"  What  a  picture  !  the  waves  of  the  ocean  swel- 
led by  the  mangled  bodies,  which  were  secretly  com- 
mitted to  the  bosom  of  the  Loire  ;  blood  flowing  in 
torrents  down  the  streets  of  every  town  ;  the  dun- 
geons of  a  hundred  thousand  bastiles  groaning  un- 
der the  weight  of  the  victims  with  which  they  were 
incumbered  ;  the  threshold  of  every  door  stained 
with  gore  ;  and  as  the  height  of  insult,  the  word 
humanity  engraven  on  every  tomb,  and  associated 
to  death  :  such  was  the  lamentable  aspect  which 
France  presented  !  On  every  frontispiece  were  to 
be  seen  the  contradictory  words  of  Liberty,  Frater- 
nity, or  Death.  Alas  !  the  last  was  the  only  one 
which  was  realized."  PAGE'S  French  revolution, 
vol.  ll.  p.  166,  7,8. 

Here  we  have  the  faint  outlines  of  a  picture  of  the 
horrors  of  the  French  revolution,  drawn  by  a 
Frenchman  and  a  democrat.  This  is  the  kind  of 
liberty  and  equality  which  illuminated  philosophers 
prepare  for  mankind. 

50  From  folio  down  to  book  of  horn. 

"  Infidelity  is  now  served  up  in  every  shape  that 
is  likely  to  allure,  surprise,  or  beguile  the  imagina- 


66  ILLUMIN1SM. 

Who  erst  adroitly  to  deceive 
In  serpent's  form  accosted  Eve. ' 

In  Paris  many  a  democrat 
In  dark,  infernal  conclave  sat, 
Brooded  on  eggs  of  curs'd  confusion, 
And  hatch'd  the  Gallic  revolution.*1 

tion  ;  in  a  fable,  a  tale,  a  novel,  a  poem,  in  inter- 
spersed and  broken  hints  ;  remote  and  oblique  sur- 
mises ;  in  books  of  travels  ;  of  philosophy  ;  of  na- 
tural history  ;  in  a  word,  in  any  form  rather  than 
that  of  a  professed  and  regular  disquisition." 

PALET. 

51  And  hatch'd  the  Gallic  revolution. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  affirm  that  the  French  revo- 
lution was  altogether  the  immediate  and  direct  effect 
of  the  operations  of  the  Illuminati.  But  I  believe 
that  the  principles  inculcated  in  the  lodges  of  these 
terrene  infernals,  and  which  were  circulated  by 
them,  and  by  those  who  were  connected  with  them, 
paved  the  way  to  those  enormities,  which  rendered 
the  French  revolution  by  far  the  most  bloody  re- 
corded in  history.  There  were  no  doubt  many, 
who  without  ever  perceiving  it  themselves  were  under 
the  influence  of  principles  taught  in  these  lodges. 
There  was  a  groat  difference  between  the  syste- 
matical ferocity  of  the  leaders  in  the  French  revo- 


ILLUMINISM.  6? 

Anon  their  black  atrocious  band 
Skulk  in  disguise  though  every  land, 
Rebellion  propagate,  by  stealth 
Through  City,  Kingdom,  Commonwealth. 

Union,  and  the  desultory  efforts  of  the  common  Jack 
Cades  and  Wat  Tylers  of  rebellion.  Many  of  them 
had  thoroughly  reasoned  themselves  into  a  belief 
that  their  massacres  were  laudable,  and  would  even- 
tually redound  to  their  own  .honor  and  the  great 
good  of  the  human  species. 

The  following  anecdote  will,  I  think,  corroborate 
my  assertion. 

"  To  give  an  idea  of  the  temper  of  the  people  at 
Paris,  it  is  proper  to  remark,  that  at  the  same  in- 
stant when  the  multitude  with  bloody  fury  were 
massacring  the  menial  servants  in  the  palace,  (on 
the  memorable  10th  of  August  1792)  and  could 
scarcely  be  restrained  from  offering  violence  to  the 
Swiss  who  were  made  prisoners,  they  would  suffer  no 
acts  of  pillage  to  go  unpunished.  Several  attempts 
of  this  kind  were  accordingly  followed  by  the  in- 
stant death  of  the  criminals.  The  plate,  the  jewels, 
and  money  found  in  the  Thuilleries  were  brought  to 
the  national  assembly,  and  thrown  down  in  the  hall. 
One  man,  whose  dress  and  appearance  bespoke  ex- 
treme poverty,  cast  upon  the  table  an  hat  full  of 
gold. ...But  the  minds  of  these  men  were  elevated 
by  enthusiasm;  and  they  considered  themselves  as 
at  this  moment  the  champions  of  freedom,  and  ob- 
jects of  terror  to  the  kings  of  the  earth." 


68  ILLUMINISM. 

Thus  the  fell  fiend  of  yellow-fever, 
Hurls  viewless  arrows  from  his  quiver, 
Hovers  in  darkness  dire,  and  flings 
Distruction  from  mephitick  wings. 

Nor  were  their  efforts  bent  alone 
Against  the  altar  and  the  throne, 
But  were  intended  for  prostration 
Of  order,  law,  and  civ'lization. 

They  fought  as  bold  as  Bonaparts* 
To  level  science  and  the  arts  ; 
Bid  mankind  list  beneath  the  scrub 
Of  strongest  arm,  and  largest  club. 

And  swore  to  have  the  pure  reality, 
Essence  of  Jacobin  equality, 
That  freedom,  which  no  more  ner  less  is, 
Than  wolves  enjoy  in  wildernesses.'2 

aa  Than  wolves  enjoy  in  wildernesses. 

The  following  extract  from  an  address  to  the 
French  people  by  the  adepts  Drouet,  Babieuf,  and 
Longelat,  exhibits  a  correct  specimen  of  jacobin 
equality. 

"  We  are  all  equal. ...That  principle  is  incontesta- 
ble....very  well !  We  mean  in  future  to  live  and  die 


1LLUMINISM.  69 

Their  leading  tenets  tally  nicely, 
In  many  things  the  same  precisely 

as  we  are  bom.  We  will  have  real  equality  or 
death....That  is  what  we  want,  and  we  will  have 
that  real  equality,  cost  what  it  will.  Woe  be  to  these 
whom  tue  shall  meet  between  it  and  us .'  Woe  to  the 
man  who  shall  dare  oppose  so  positive  a  determina- 
tion !  The  French  revolution  is  hut  the  forerunner 
of  a  revolution  greater  by  far  and  much  more  so- 
lemn ;  and  which  will  be  the  last. 

"  What  do  we  ask  more  than  the  equality  of  rights  ? 
Why,  we  will  not  only  have  that  equality  trans- 
cribed in  the  declaration  of  the  rights  of  man,  and 
of  the  citizen  ;  we  will  have  it  in  the  midst  of  us, 
under  the  roofs  of  our  houses.  We  consent  to 
every  thing  for  the  acquisition  of  it,  even  to  clear 
flecks^  that  we  may  possess  it  alone  ;  perish  the 
arts,  if  requisite,  provided  \ve  do  but  preserve  a  real 
equality  ! 

"  Legislators  and  governors,  proprietors,  rich  and 
fcowclless,  in  vain  do  you  attempt  to  paralyze  our 
sacred  enterprize,  by  saying  we  are  only  re-pro- 
ducing the  Agrarian  law  that  has  been  so  often 
asked  for  before. 

"  Calumniators !  hold  your  peace  in  your  turn,  and 
in  the  silence  of  confusion  hearken  to  our  preten- 
sions dictated  by  nature  and  grounded  on  justice. 

"  The  Agfarian  law,  or  equal  partition  of  lands, 
was  the  momentary  wish  of  a  few  soldiers  without 
principles,  of  a  few  clans,  actuated  rather  by  instinct 


70  ILLUMINISM. 

Unfolded  by  that  fish  of  odd  fin, 
The  Jacobinic  William  Godwin.*3 

than  by  reason.  We  aim  at  something  more  sub- 
lime, far  more  equitable,  GOODS  IN  COMMON,  or  THE 
COMMUNITY  OF  ESTATES  !  JVb  more  individual  firo- 
jierties  in  land,  for  the  earth  belongs  io  nobody.  We 
demand  and  will  enjoy  the  goods  of  the  earth  in 
common.  The  fruits  belong  to  all.  Disappear 
now,  ye  disgusting  distinctions  of  rich  and  floor,  of 
higher  and  lower,  of  master  and  servant,  of  GOVERN- 
ING  AND  GOVERNED  !  for  no  other  distinctions  shall 
exist  among  mankind  than  those  of  age  and  sea:," 

33  The  Jacobinic  William  Godwin. 

Were  it  not  true  that  our  American  jacobins  are 
very  great  admirers  of  this  disorganizing  philoso- 
phist,  I  would  not  waste  a  syllable  on  his  productions. 
His  Political  Justice  is  held  in  utter  abhorrence  by  all 
men  of  sense  and  erudition  on  either  side  cf  the  At- 
lantic. But  as  it  is  unfortunately  the  case  that  some 
men,  who  are  neither  men  of  sense  nor  erudition,  are 
very  aspiring  characters,  the  said  William  Godwin 
is  toasted  in  democratic  clubs,  and  many  of  the 
men  now  in  power,  shape  their  conduct  according 
to  the  models  of  this  principal  pedlar  of  French 
manufactured  morality. 

I  would  premise,  however,  that  I  shall  not  at- 
tempt to  trace  the  sorry  sophist  through  all  his  la- 
byrinths of  "  desolating  nonsense."  A  concise 


1LLUMINISM.  71 

Who  held  society  was  needing 
A  little  salutary  bleeding, 

sketch  of  some  of  the  most  prominent  fallacies 
•which  we  have  observed  in  his  Political  Justice, 
must  suffice. 

He  commences  his  theory  of  political  justice, 
with  a  description  of  the  "  evils  existing  in  politi- 
cal society,"  then  attempts  to  prove  that  these 
"  evils  are  to  be  ascribed  to  public  institutions," 
and  next  proposes  to  inform  us,  how  such  evils  are 
to  be  removed  ! 

Under  the  head  of  evils  existing  in  society,  we 
are  presented  with  much  common  place  declama- 
tion, about  fraud,  robbery,  wars,  &c.  To  these 
succeed  several  arid  chapters,  relative  to  innate 
principles,  antenatal  impressions,  instincts,  Sec.  all 
of  which  is  either  very  trite,  or  very  nonsensical. 
We  are  next  informed  that  our  voluntary  actions 
are  invariably  the  result  of  reason.  That  passion 
and  appetite  cannot  counteract  its  mandates.. ..that 
"  truth  is  omnipotent".. ..that  when  a  rational  being 
knows  what  is  right,  he  will  invariably  act  according 
to  his  knowledge. 

Hence,  we  have  nothing  further  to  do  in  perform- 
ing the  process  of  perfecting  man,  than  merely  to 
illuminate  him  with  some  of  philosopher  Godwin's 
lucid  displays  of  truth,  as  exhibited,  for  instance,  in 
his  Political  Justice,  and  he  will  be  so  perfect^  that 
the  now  "nccc&sartj  evil"  of  government  may  be  anni- 
hilated. 


72  ILLUMINISM. 

To  kill  one  half  mankind  were  best, 
And  then  philosophize  the  rest. 

Here,  however,  some  slight  difficulties  in  our 
progress  to  perfection  intervene.  But  these  cannot 
Jong  retard  Philosopher  Godwin.  He  acknowledges 
that  there  are  some  soils  in  which  the  plant,  Jicr- 
fectibility,  will  not  flourish.  The  influences  of  lux- 
ury, of  climate,  &c.  oppose  something  like  obsta- 
cles. But  these  vanish  before  plenipotent  philoso- 
pher Godwin.  "  For,"  quoth  he,  "  if  truth,  when 
properly  displayed  be  omnipotent,  then  neither  cli- 
mate nor  luxury  are  invincible  obstacles."  No,  our 
philosopher  is  not  to  be  put  down  by  trifles.  He 
will  contrive  "  moral  causes,"  to  overpower  all 
physical  impediments.  The  shrivelled  Eskimaux, 
or  the  parched  African,  are  alike  capable  of  per- 
fection, and  of  consequence,  of  dispensing  with  the 
formality  of  government. 

We  are  next  presented  with  a  curious  chapter  on 
<(  Justice."  In  this  we  are  informed  that  the  "  dis- 
tribution of  justice  should  be  measured  by  the  ca- 
pacity of  its  subject."  That  is,  that  in  measuring 
such  justice,  we  are  not  to  consult  the  claims  of 
the  persons  to  whom  it  is  due,  but  the  good  of  the 
mass  of  mankind,  abstractedly  considered.  Whence 
it  follows,  that  if  I  owe  a  sum  of  money  to  A.  it 
B.  to  whom  I  am  not  indebted,  would,  in  my  of  ,  ;;, 
make  a  better  use  of  that  money  than  A.  I  am 
bound,  in  justice,  to  pay  it  to  the  former.  It  ••  is 
to.be  the  object  of  this  singular  being,  to  consider 


ILLUMINISM.  7.3 

Some  say  one  might  say  with  propriety 
They  were  like  our  St.  Tarn.  Society  \S4 

justice  as  a  sort  of  abstract  quality,  an  undefmable 
something,  due  to  the  "  system  of  nature,"  and  to 
be  distributed  where  it  will  contribute  most  to  the 
mass  of  enjoyment  now  existing,  or  which  may 
hereafter  exist  in  the  universe. 

Hence  it  appears  that  Mr.  Godwin's  Justice  is  not 
unlike  Dr.  Darwin's  "  universal  philanthropy," 
which  is  consoled  for  the  loss  of  thousands  of 
human  beings,  by  the  reflection  that  the  matter  of 
which  they  were  organized,  might  be  profitably  em- 
ployed in  the  manufacture  of  myriads  of  insects, 
the  sum  of  whose  happiness  might  be  equal  to  that 
of  the  slaughtered  armies,  to  whose  destruction 
these  flying  and  creeping  things  owed  their  exist- 
ence. Phytologia* 

Hut  to  return  to  Mr.  Godwin.  In  proving  all 
these  fine  things,  however,  our  wonderfully  pro- 
found philosopher,  as  might  be  expected,  not  un- 
frequent'y  contradicts  himself.  Truth  is  sometimes 
represented  as  "  Omnipotent,"  and  sometimes  as 
totally  imbecile,  although  by  its  agency  all  his  per- 
fection is  to  be  brought  about.  For  we  are  inform- 
ed, that  "  Self  deception  is  of  all  things  the  most 
easy.  Whoever  ardently  wishes  to  find  a  propo- 
sition true,  may  be  expected  insensibly  to  veer 
towards  the  opinion  that  suits  his  inclination.  It 
.cannot  be  wonde'ed  at,  by  him  who  considers  the 
subtilty  of  the  human  mind,  that  belief  should 


74  ILLUMINISM. 

But,  as  I  know  not  whom  I  may  hit, 
Of  course  I  shan't  presume  to  say  it. 

scarcely  ever  rest  upon  the  mere  basis  of  evidence, 
and  that  arguments  are  always  viewed  through  a 
delusive  medium,  magnifying  them  into  Alps,  or 
diminishing  them  to  nothing."* 

We  are  afterwards  told  of  conscientious  assassins 
and  persecutors,  who  are  to  be  governed  by  this 
"  Omnipotent  Truth,"  but  how  all  this  will  be 
brought  about,  no  body  but  a  philosophist  can  de- 
termine. 

Mr.  Godwin  now  proceeds  to  explode  rights,  and 
unshackle  his  unlimited  morality,!  till  at  length  we 
are  presented  with  a  new  set  of  "  Principles  of  Gov- 
ernment," in  which  "  Omnipotent  Truth,"  sanc- 
tioned by  justice  without  coercion,  is  to  regulate  so- 
ciety according  to  a  new  order  of  things^  and  intro- 
duce a  political  millenium.  When  this  happy  sera 
commences,  every  man  in  every  action,  will  consult 
at  once  his  own  happiness,  the  happiness  of  his 
neighbours,  of  the  world  of  mankind,  and  the  pre- 
sent and  future  good  of  the  universe.  Here  our 
modern  philosopher  is  placed  in  a  situation  a  million 
times  as  puzzling  as  that  of  the  schoolman's  ass  be- 
tween two  equally  attractive  stacks  of  hay  ;  for  if 
he  moves  but  his  little  finger  in  any  way  not  con- 
ducive to  the  introduction  of  universal  felicity,  the 
whole  of  Mr.  Godwin's  fine  fabric  is  annihilated* 

•  Book  II.  chap.  iv.  p.  133.         t  Book  II.  chap;  v- 


ILLUMINISM.  75 

Vile  propagands in  every  city 

Make  smooth  the  path  of  French  banditti, 

The  next  thing  worthy  of  notice  in  the  course  of 
this  gentleman's  destructive  career,  is  an  attack 
upon  the  Obligation  of  Promises.*  In  this  he 
would  have  a  philosopher  be  the  opposite  to  the 
just  man,  described  by  Dr.  Watts,  •who, 

"  ThoHgh  to  his  own  hurt  1  "  ,>ve,trs, 

Still  he  performs  his  word  ;" 

And  because  it  is  lawful  to  take,  in  sonic  cases, 
what  is  not  our  own,  to  ,satisfy  hunger,  he  argues 
thus  : 

"  The  adherence  to  promises,  therefore,  as  well 
as  their  employment,  in  the  first  instance,  must  be 
decided  by  the  general  criterion,  and  maintained 
only  so  Jar  c?  zt/ion  a  co?njire/ienftive  view  it  shci'u  be 
found  productive  of  a  balance  of  ha/i/uness." 

Here  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  the  jiroinissor  is  to 
be  the  judge,  in  his  own  cave,  how  far  the  observ- 
ance of  his  promise  may  be  "  Productive  of  a  bal- 
ance of  happiness."  And  with  regard  to  the  facility 
with  which  an  honest  man,  making  a  promise,  may 
deceive  himself  respecting  this  ''balance  of  happi- 
ness," we  would  refer  our  reader  to  the  passage  al- 
ready cjuoted  from  book  II.  chap.  iv.  p.  13.3. 

Our  scheming   politician  js  not  contented   with 

having  made  an  end  of  promises,  but  in  his  second 

volume,    Oaths  of   Office,    are   declared  not   only 

useless,  but  execrable.     But  I  fear  I  shall  trespass 

*  Book  II.  chap.  iii. 


76  ILLUMINISM. 

And  jacobin  illumin'd  savages 
Prelude  fell  French  fraternal  ravages. 

on  the  patience  of  my  reader,  by  pursuing  this 
visionary  writer  through  the  mazes  of  his  "  vain 
philosophy."  I  shall  therefore  take  leave  of  Mr. 
Godwin,  with  a  quotation  or  two;  and}  1st,  from 
his  own  book,  exemplifying  the  means  by  which 
Mr.  Godwin  would  be  willing  to  obtain  his  perfec- 
tion ;  and,  2ndly,  from  the  "  Pursuifs  of  Literature," 
expressing  the  apprehensions  which  that  great 
writer,  in  common  with  all  men  of  science  and  re- 
flection, have  felt  from  the  effects  of  such  poison- 
ous principles. 

"  Perhaps  no  important  revolution  was  ever  blood- 
less- It  may  be  useful  in  this  place  to  recollect  in 
what  the  mischief  of  shedding  blood  consists.  The 
abuses  which  at  present  exist  in  all  political  socie- 
ties, are  so  enormous,  the  oppressions  which  are 
exercised  so  intolerable,  the  ignorance  and  vice 
'.hey  tntail  so  dreadful,  that  possibly  a  dispassionate 
enquirer  might  decide,  that,  if  their  annihilation 
could  be  purchased  by  an  instant  sweeping  of  every 
human  being  now  arrived  at  years  of  maturity,  from 
the  face  of  the  earth,  the  purchase  would  not  be  too 
clear.  It  is  not  because  human  life  is  of  so  conside~ 
rable  value,  that  we  ought  to  recoil  from  the  shed- 
ding of  blood.  Death  is  in  itself  among  the  slight- 
est of  human  evils.  An  earthquake,  which  should 
swallow  up  a  hundred  thousand  individuals  at  once, 
would  chiefly  be  to  be  regretted  for  the  anguish  it 


ILLUMINISM.  rr 

Kings,  nobles,  priests,  besotted  elves 
Strangely  combin'd  against  themselves,  " 

entailed  upon  survivors  ;  in  a  fair  estimate  of  those 
it  had  destroyed,  it  would  often  be  comparatively  a 
trivial  event." 

In  this  sentence  we  have  Illuminism  completely 
unmasked.  This  was  the  principle,  which  actuated 
the  blood-thirsty  tygers  of  the  French  revolution. 

I  cannot  better  conclude  my  remarks  on  this  work, 
than  by  quoting  from  the  Pursuits  of  Literature,  a 
passage,  which  evinces  the  apprehensions  which 
the  author  of  that  poem  entertained  from  the  pre- 
valence of  these  and  similar  tenets  of  modern  phi- 
losophy. 

u  My  conviction  and  my  fears  on  this  most  awful 
subject  (while  it  may  yet  avail  us  to  consider)  some- 
times overpower  me,  till  I  absolutely  sink  under 
them." 

I  have  heard  it  asserted  that  Godwin  has  retracted 
some  of  the  tenets  advanced  in  this  horrid  produc- 
tion. But  the  recantation,  if  such  exists,  has  not 
been  made  sufficiently  public  to  serve  as  an  antidote 
to  the  poison  contained  in  the  principles,  and  our 
American  democrats  still  pretend  to  admire  the 
destructive  sophisms  with  which  that  work  abounds. 

54  They  were  like  our  St.  Tarn.  Society. 

There  is  a  society  established  in  New- York,  call- 
ed  the  St.  Tammany  Society,  who   personate  the 
aboriginal  savages  very  successi'uliy  in  our  opinion. 
N  2 


78  ILLUMINISM. 

Oppos'd  with  blind  infuriate  zeal 
There  own  as  well  as  publick  weal. 

B  u  t  scarce  the  bard,  in  half  a  century, 
Could  mark  the  progress  of  this  gentry, 
Nor  trace  illuminated  guilt 
Through  seas  of  blood  by  madmen  spilt. 

But  well  the  reader  knows,  I  fancy, 
How  freedom  alamodt  de  Francois 
Was  forc'dto  choose  for  her  protector 
The  Corsic  despot  to  perfect  her  ; 

Surrender'd  all  her  harlot  charms 
To  murderer  Buonaparte's  arms, 
And  now  is  doubtless  safe  enough,  in 
The  clutches  of  that  ragamuffin.  5tJ 

"  Strangely  combin'cl   against  themselves. 

Among  the  sovereigns  who  were  wheedled  into 
the  plans  of  the  conspirators,  were  Joseph  II.  Em- 
peror of  Germany,  Catherine  II.  Empress  of  Rus- 
sia, Christiern  VII.  King  of  Denmark,  Gustavus  III. 
King  of  Sweden,,  and  Poniatovvski,  King  of  Poland, 
together  with  princes  and  princesses  too  numerous 
in  this  place  to  mention. 

S6  The  clutches  of  that  ragamuffin. 

Among  the  many  astonishing  instances  of  the 


ILLUMINISIM.  79 

When  first  the  boding  storm  began 
To  threaten  civil,  social  man, 

wilful,  or  stupid  blindness  of  the  party,  who  arro- 
gate to  themselves  the  appellation  of  republicans, 
may  be  included  their  persevering  eulogies  of  Bona- 
parte, long  after  the  mask  of  republicanism  was 
thrown  off  by  that  usurper.  Notwithstanding  well 
authenticated  accounts  were  received  in  America, 
of  the  infernal  means  by  which  he  was  accomplish- 
ing the  end  of  enslaving  that  country,  still  he  re- 
mained the  subject  of  democratic  demi-adoration. 
But  our  limits  will  not  allow  us,  in  this  place,  to 
give  a  full  length  portrait  of  the  republican  Emperor 
of  the  Gauls.  A  few  sentences  from  an  English 
publication,  the  conductors  of  which,  we  know, 
will  not  give  currency  to  a  falsehood,  shall  suffice. 
"  Trace  this  man  of  blood,  from  his  first  entrance 
on  his  revolutionary  career,  to  the  present  moment, 
(July,  1803.)  Behold  him,  after  contributing  to 
the  murder  of  that  sovereign,  to  whose  liberality 
he  had  been  indebted  for  his  education  and  support, 
acting  a  conspicuous  part  with  his  friend,  the  late 
minister  of  police,  Fouche,  as  an  agent  of  the  Na- 
tional Convention  at  Toulon,  where,  after  its  evacu- 
ation by  the  English,  he  superintended  the  massacre 
of  the  loyalists ;  then  follow  him  to  Paris,  see  him 
placed  by  Barras,  at  the  head  of  the  conventional 
army,  and  murdering  seven  thousand  of  the  citizens 
of  the  metropolis,  for  daring  to  exercise  a  consti- 
tutional right,  by  the  election  of  their  own  repre- 


50  ILLUMINISM. 

When  vials  of  Illumination 

Were  pour'd  abroad  on  every  nation. 

sentatives  ;  next  observe  him,  accepting,  as  a  re- 
ward for  this  sanguinary  act,  from  the  contempla- 
tion of  which  every  honest  mind  revolts  with  hor- 
ror, the  hand  of  the  mistress  of  Barras,  with  the 
command  of  a  banditti,  destined  to  overrun  the  fer- 
tile plains  of  Lombardy  ;  view  him  in  his  destruc- 
tive progress,  dealing  death  and  desolation  around, 
and  involving,  in  one  mass  of  complicated  ruin,  the 
prince  and  the  peasant,  the  young  and  the  old,  the 
woman  and  the  child  ;  mark  his  conduct  during  his 
progress  at  the  village  of  Tenasco,  where  one  of 
his  soldiery,  instigated  by  brutal  lust,  (in  the  un- 
restrained gratification  of  which  his  troops  were, 
and  *////  are,  SYSTEMATICALLY  indulged)  entered 
the  cottage  of  a  peasant,  and  attempted  to  violate 
his  daughter,  scarcely  arrived  to  years  of  maturity, 
the  resentment  of  which  by  the  father,  produced  a 
scuffle,  which  ended  in  the  death  of  the  military 

ruffian see  Bonaparte,  whose  head-quarters  were 

near  by,  revenge  this  deed  of  justice,  by  ordering 
the  whole  village  of  Tenasco  to  be  reduced  to 
ashes,  and  its  innocent,  unprotected  inhabitants, 
to  be  put  to  death  without  distinct  ion  of  age  or  sex, 
an  order,  which  was  instantaneously  and  most  mer- 
cilessly obeyed pursue  this  monster  in  human 

shapt  to  the  sho'.  esof  Iv.ypt;  there  hear  him  public- 
ly enounce  his  Redeemer,  reject  trie  profiertc;  al- 
vation  of  his  ood,  order  the  wanton  massacre  of 


ILLUMINISM.  81 

Great  Britain  felt  the  fated  shock, 
But  Pitt  was  hef  salvation's  rock, 

thousands  of  the  helpless  people  of  Alexandria, 
merely  to  strike  terror  into  their  countrymen.... 
then  trace  him  to  Jaffa,  to  the  cold-blooded  mur- 
der of  3,800  captured  Turks  ;  follow  him  in  his 
disgraceful  retreat,  when  driven  by  British  valour 
from  the  walls  of  Acre,  and  observe  him  calmly 
directing  the  poisoned  bowl  to  be  administered  to 
five  hundred  and  eighty  of  his  sick  soldiers,"  &c. 

Hence  we  see  a  short  sketch  of  the  character  of 
the  man,  whom  our  democrats  have  ever  idolized  ; 
and  to  similar  scenes  would  unrestrained  democracy 
lead,  in  this  or  any  other  country.  It  is  in  vain  for 
the  f?.voyr«v*  *>f  Frenchmen  and  French  measures, 
in  this  country,  to  deny  the  existence  of  the  facts 
here  disclosed.  They  have  been  repeatedly  pub- 
lished, both  in  England  and  America,  and  never 
contradicted  by  the  friends  and  admirers  of  the 
g-enwzrce-republican,  who  is  now  king  of  the  Gauls. 

Since  writing  the  above  I  have  perused  a  tract 
entitled  Bonaparte  and  the  French  people,  written 
•with  considerable  ability  by  a  German,  resident  in 
France.  This  work  contains  many  proofs  of  the 
despicable  despotism  to  which  the  French  nation 
is  now  reduced  under  the  domineration  of  the  Cor- 
sican  usurper.  Splendor  without  magnificence,  luxu- 
ry without  taste,  caprice,  suspicion  and  cruelty  beyond 
example,  characterize  the  court  of  the  mimic  emperor. 
A  cotemporary  writer,  says  the  author  has  well  ob- 


82  ILLUMINISM. 

Like  Calpc's  mound  amid  the  waves 
He  stems  the  tide,  his  country  saves.  S7 

He  sees  the  aims,  and  thwarts  the  plans 
Of  democratic  partizans, 
Breaks  down  nefarious  coalitions 
Of  self-created  politicians. 

Now  every  man  of  sense  agrees 
That  democrats,  Illuminees, 

served  :  "  Thus  every  thing  has  returned,  after  an 
unfortunate  round-about  way,  to  the  very  point  from 
which  it  set  out ;  yet  with  this  difference,  that  in 
foimer  times  an  opposition  of  the  independent 
states  and  bodies,  might  be  shewn  to  the  royal  plea- 
sure." 

57  lie  stems  the  tide,  his  country  saves. 

Mr.  Pitt  in  early  life  was  somewhat  led  astray, 
as  young  men  most  frequently  are,  by  the  illusory 
phantoms  of  democratic  liberty  and  equality.  Time 
and  experience,  however,  corrected  his  error,  and 
perhaps  it  was  owing  chiefly  to  his  exertions,  that 
the  revolutionary  phrenzy  did  not  take  effect  in  Eng- 
land- and  lead  to  enormities,  similar  to  those,  which, 
in  France,  surpassed  every  thing  heretofore  record- 
ed in  history. 


ILLUMINISM.  *3 

Are  birds  obscene,  and  of  a  feather, 
Should  therefore  all  be  class'd  together. 

They  all  object  to  the  propriety 
Of  law  and  order  in  society, 
Think  reason  will  supply  restraints, 
And  make  mankind  a  set  of  saints." 

58  And  make  mankind  a  set  of  saints. 

Such  is  the  slang  of  the   faction  from  felon  Bur- 
roughs to  philosopher The   former  of 

these  democrats,  who  appears  as  highly  to  appreci- 
ate, and  as  fully  to  understand  the  true  principles 
of  freedom  as  the  latter,  speaking  of  the  cruelty  of 
establishing  jails  in  a  free  country,  says  :  li  How  is 
this,  says  I  to  myself,  that  a  country,  which  has 
stood  foremost  in  asserting  the  cause  of  liberty, 
that  those  who  have  tasted  in  some  measure,  the 
bitter  cup  of  slavery,  should,  so  soon  after  obtain- 
ing that  blessing  themselves,  deprive  others  of  it? 
p.  126.  Again,  speaking  of  another  democratic  gentle- 
man, imprisoned  for  theft,  he  informs  us  that, 
"  This  man,  by  mistake  having  taken  some  cattle 
not  his  own,  and  appropriated  them  to  his  own  use, 
some  people  were  so  imfiolite  as  to  charge  him  with 
th/fe."  p.  130.  Assisting  another  to  break  jail,  he 
observes,  "  Truly,  said  I,  this  conduct  has  been 
guided  by  the  principles  of  philosophy,"  p.  131. 
When  confined  at  the  castle  in  Boston  harbour,  he 


«4  ILLUMINISM. 

These  principles  excite  to  action 
The  restless  Pennsylvania  faction, 
While  tertium  quids  oppose  in  vain, 
The  daring  demagogue  Duane.*9 

resolved  to  rise  on  the  garrison,  and  blow  up  the 
magazine,  he  remarks,  "  Such  were  the  outlines  of 
my  plan  ;  I  determined  to  make  one  powerful  effort 
to  carry  it  into  execution  ;  either  to  lose  my  life  in 
the  couse  of  liberty,  or  else  gain  a  glorious  freedom." 
Here  is  genuine  republicanism  of  the  true  Aurora 
stamp.  Duane  himself  could  go  but  little  farther 
in  the  theory  and  practice  of  his  wild-Irish  sort  of 
liberty. 

*9  The  daring  demagogue  Duane. 

The  "  lamentable  comedy,"  acting  on  the  politi- 
cal theatre  of  Pennsylvania,  although  at  present  it 
seems  replete  with  ''marvellous  pleasant  mirth,"  will, 
it  is  to  be  feared,  terminate  with  a  most  tragical 
catastrophe.  Were  it  otherwise,  it  would  be  not 
a  little  amusing  to  be  a  looker  an  the  struggle  be- 
tween the  Duanites  and  the  Dallasites,  alias  the 
"  genuine  republicans*  and  the  tertium  quids.  These 
things  would  be  comical  enough,  were  it  not  that 
the  foundations  of  society  are  thereby  shaken  to 
their  centre,  and  were  it  not  probable  that  this 
earthquake  of  faction  will  ingulph  our  blood  •bought 
liberties,  and  inhume  every  thing  which  can  render 
society  of  any  value. 


ILLUMINISM.  85 

Such  principles,  alas,  will  flood 
Columbia's"  happy  land"  with  blood, 
Unless  kind  Providence  restrain 
These  demons  of  the  hurricane. 


CANTO  III. 


ARGUMENT. 

I  sing  French  freedom  wafted  o  er 
From  frantic  Cilia's  blood-staln'd  shore, 
And  how  th*  accused  wild-fire  found 
"  A»ylumn  in  Columbian  ground  ; 
How  honest  yeomen,  bold  and  rough, 
For  lack  of  liberty  enough, 
Seduc'd  by  bold,  ambitious  bad  men, 
Behavd,  /  m  loth  to  toy,  like  mad  men ; 
And  form'd  democracy's  inflection1:, 
In  Shays  and  whiskey-insurrections.... 
With  other  matters  you'll  discover, 
Good  reader,  when  you've  read  them  over. 


\VHEN  democrats,  from  public  p:  per.j, 
Learned  how  the  French  were  cutting  capers, 
They  lost  the  little  wits  they  had, 
And  were,  poor  things,  completely  mad  ; 

Good  reader,  though  it^may  embarrass  one, 
We'll  conjure  up  some  bright  comparison, 
Somewhat  to  liken  to  the  revels 
Of  democratic  demi-devils : 


8ff  MOBOCRACY. 

Such  as  were  held  in  celebration 
Of  crimes  of  our  good  sister  nation, 
To  gratulate  vile  sans  culluttes 
On  cutting  one  anothers  throats. 

Pray,  Sir,  dids't  ever  stop  and  stare 
At  showman  with  a  dancing  bear, 
Whipping  dull  bruin  round  a  stake,  or 
Dids't  ever  see  a  shaking  quaker ? 

Or  New  lights  dancing  pious  jigs, 
Spinning  like  tops,  their  dismal  rigs, 
On  one  heel  whirling,  spirit-driven, 
A  precious  way  to  go  to  heaven? 

Dids't  ever  hear  a  story  which  is 
Most  horrible !  about  the  witches ! 
Bedevil'd !  (so  they  say)  in  Salem,69 
And  what  the  devil  else  could  ail  'em? 


80  Bedevil'd  (so  they  say)  in  Salem. 

We  do  not  wish  to  be  satirical  in  our  remarks 
on  the  once  famous  Salem  witchcrafts.  Hutchin- 
son  says  that  "  The  great  noise,  which  the  New- 
England  witchcraft  made  throughout  the  English 
dominions  proceeded  more  from  the  general  panick, 


MOBOCRACY.  8f 

Dids't  ever  hear  of  heathen  gods,  ' 
Wa  >,  drunk  with  nectar,  fell  at  odds, 
Broke  a  crown's  worth  of  good  gtibs  bottles, 
And  would  have  cut  each  others  throttles, 

Had  not  the  good  old  blacksmith  Vulcan 
Appeas'd  the  riot  with  a  full  can, 
Made  them  shake  hands  both  whig  and  tory 
As  Gaffer  Homer  tells  the  story  ? 

Hast  read  in  Ovid's  Metamorphoses 
What  a  most  sorry  scrape  was  Orpheus's 

with  which  all  sorts  of  persons  were  seized,  and  an 
expectation  that  the  contagion  would  spread  to  all 
parts  of  the  country,  than  from  the  number  of  per- 
sons who  were  executed  ;  more  having  been  put  to 
death  in  a  single  county  in  England,  in  a  short 
space  of  time,  than  have  suffered  in  all  New-Eng- 
land." Hutch.  Hii.  frftuMC/iuaett*)  vol.  n.  p.  15. 

But  the  allusion  is  opposite  to  our  subject  in  a 
philosophical  as  well  as  poetical  point  of  view.  It 
shews  how  liable  mjnkind  arc  to  be  seized  with  men- 
tal efiidemicks  and  to  run  mad  in  concert.  The  crus- 
ade mania,  the  witchcraft  mania,  but  worst  of  all 
the  Gallic-dcmocratic-Tom-Pain  mania  have  been 
terrible  diseases,  and  the  last  mentioned  in  particu- 
lar much  more  destructive  in  its  consequences  thun 
the  yellow  fever  or  even  the  pbfjue  itself. 
I  2 


90  MOBOCRACY. 

When  tipsey  hags,  with  other  matters 
Tore  the  old  fiddler  all  to  tatters  ?sl 

Dost  know  how  Hercules  once  behav'd, 
Ranted  and  rended,  roar'd  and  rav'd,62 
What  time  his  wife,  a  jealous  flirt, 
Sent  him  her  sweet- heart's  brimstone  shirt  ? 

81  Tore  the  old  fidler  all  to  tatters, 

The  conduct  of  the  female  Bacchantes,  who  de- 
molished the  Thracian  band  (see  Ovid's  Metamor- 
phoses, Lib.  xi.  Fab.  i.)  has  been  far  exceeded  by 
the  French  Revolutionary  female  fiends  at  Paris. 
Mad  with  Jacobinic  fury,  the  beautiful,  the  tender 
sex  with  the  most  savage  fury  actually  gnawed  the 
amputated  limbs  of  their  wretched  countrymen, 
whom  the  mob  had  butchered  in  the  cause  of  li- 
berty and  equality.  Such  is  the  spirit  of  democ- 
racy. Even  the  fair  sex  without  the  restraints  of 
religion  and  government,  become  more  ferocious 
than  tigers,  and  man  the  most  savage  animal  in  ex- 
istence. 

6>  Ranted  and  rended,  roar'd  and  rav'd. 

Dum  fiotuit  solita  gemitum  -virtute  refiressit, 
Victa  malis  postquam  f.u'.ientia  refiulit  aras  ; 
Tm/ilevityue  suts  nemerosum  -vocibus  Oeten. 

OVID,  Met.  Lib.  ix.  Fab.  3. 


MOBOCRACY.  91 

What  riot  erst  had  been  in  hell 
About  the  time  that  Adam  fell, 
If  democrats,  (so  Milton  makes 
It  plain)  had  not  been  turn'd  to  snakes?63 

63 had  not  been  Urn'd  to  snakes. 

The  reception  which  the  arch  democrat  met  with 
»n  his  return  from  that  expedition  which  brought 
"  death  into  the  world,"  and  his  Metempsychosis 
on  that  occasion  are  thus  described  by  the  first  of 
poets. 

"  So  having  said,  a  while  he  stood  expecting 

"  Their  universal  shout,  and  high  applause, 

"  To  fill  his  ear.  when  contrary  he  hears 

"  On  all  sides  from  innumerable  tongues, 

u  A  dismal  universal  hiss,  the  sound 

"  Of  public  scorn  ;  he  wonder'd,  but  not  long 

"  Had  leisure,  wondering  at  himself  now  more  ; 

"  His  vissage  drawn  he  felt  to  sharp  and  spare, 

"  His  arms  clung  to  his  ribs,  his  legs  intwining 

"  Each  other    till  supplanted  down  he  fell 

"  A  monstrous  serpent,  on  his  belly  prone, 

"  Reluctant,  but  in  vain,  a  greater  power 

"  Now  rul'd  him,  punish'd  in  the  shape  he  sinn'd, 

**  According  to  his  doom  :  he  would  have  spoke 

"  But  hiss  for  hiss  return'd  with  forked  tongue 

"  To  forked  tongue,  for  now  were  all  transformed 

"  Alike  to  serpents,  all  as  accessaries 

"  To  this  bold  riot. 


52  MOBOCRACY. 

Dids't  ever  know  on  fourth  of  July 
With  many  a  "  d....?i  your  eyes  /"  and 
Vile  Irishmen ,  i n  bloody  fray     [ '  'you  lie  /" 
Honor  our  Independence  day  ?** 

That  these  serpents  were  democrats  is  plain,  first 
from  the  testimony  of  Butler,  who  says, 

"  The  devil  was  the  first  of  the  name 
From  whom  the  race  of  rebels  came, 
Who  was  the  first  bold  undertaker 
Of  bearing  arms  against  his  maker." 

BUTLER'S,  Misc.  Thoughts, 

Secondly,  we  have  the  declaration  of  democrats 
•vs.  democrats,  to  be  found  in  a  semi-weekly  election- 
eering handbill  printed  in  New-York,  entitled  "THE 
CORRECTOR,"  in  which  the  Burrites,  good  democrats, 
have  drawn  the  Clintonians,  likewise  good  democrat, 
as  large  as  life  and  hung  them  up  in  what  they 
very  properly  called  "  The  PANDEMONIAN  GALLE- 
RY." Some  however,  have  very  plausibly  maintain- 
ed that,  although  these  pointings  may  be  correct 
copies  of  the  originals  who  appear  to  have  sat  for 
their  pictures,  yet  in  comparing  them  to  the  devils 
of  Miiton,  they  have  caricatured  the  latter  beyond 
all  compa'.ison. 

°*  Honor  our  Independence  day. 

The  4th  of  July  1 805,  was  celebrated  in  a  "  gen- 


MOBOCRACY.  93 

All  these  thou  knows't,  but  not  a  scrape 
Among  them  all,  in  any  shape, 
Could  equal  ox-head  celebration 
In  honor  of  the  frantic  nation.0* 

uine  republican"  stile  by  a  number  of  the  jolly  softs 
of  St.  Patrick,  collected  for  that  purpose  on  the 
Battery  in  New- York.  These  brawny  democrats 
undertook,  by  pugilistical  demonstration  to  make  it 
evident  that  fresh  imported  Irishmen  were  the  only 
real  American  soldiers,  and  "genuine"  patriots  of 
seventy-six.  Those  who  had  the  hardihood  to  dis- 
sent from  this  doctrine  were  sure  to  be  knocked 
down  in  a  very  convincing  manner.  These  Hiber- 
nian logicians,  finding  however  that  there  were  two 
sides  to  the  question  even  as  they  argued  it>  were 
at  length  obliged  to  yield  to  the  more  impressive 
reasons  of  their  opponents  assisted  by  the  ultima 
ratio  of  the  city  police.  On  this  great  occasion  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  with  singular  pro- 
priety read  by  an  Irishman  who  had  been  lately 
imported. 

C5  In  honor  of  the  frantic  nation. 

The  following  account  of  a  fete  of  the  Boston  de- 
mocratic party,  we  extract  from  "  Remarks  on  the 
Jacobiniad,"  an  extremely  well  written  publication, 
vhichappeared  in  Boston  at  the  time  that  Americans 
were  running  into  some  of  the  French  revolutionary 
excesses. 


94  MOBOCRACY. 

Now  demos  gave  their  feelings  vent 
In  all  parts  of  the  continent, 

"  Though  the  adventures  of  the  ox's  head  are 
well  known  in  this  metropolis,  a  short  account  of 
them  may  not  prove  unacceptable  to  such  as  have 
not  the  happiness  of  being  our  fellow  citizens. 
We  beg  leave  then  to  inform  them,  that  on  the  re- 
treat of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  and  the  successes 
of  our  Gallic  friends  under  Dumourier,  a  Civic 
Feast  was  given  in  honor  of  these  illustrious  events. 
The  subscription  was  liberal  ;  a  handsome  enter- 
tainment was  provided  for  the  lovers  of  equality,  in 
Faneuil  Hall,  whilst  their  "  MAJESTIES  THE  MOB," 
were  regaled  with  an  ox  roasted  whole  in  the  street. 
The  supposition >  that  more  than  3000  persons  of  all 
ages,  sexes  and  descriptions,  would  quietly  set  down 
and  wait  till  they  were  helped,  was  benevolent  in 
the  extreme  :  but  their  majesties  very  uncivilly 
disappointed  the  expectations  of  their  patrons  ;  for, 
unrestrained  by  the  ties  of  gratitude,  for  the  money 
expended  for  their  amusement,  they  destroyed  the 
benches  provided  for  their  accommodation,  tore  the 
poor  ox  piece-meal,  broke  the  plates,  and  scattered 
the  mingled  fragments  of  beef  and  earthern  ware  in 
every  direction,  to  the  destruction  of  the  neighbour- 
ing windows,  and  to  the  great  annoyance  of  dogs, 
women,  children,  selectmen,  Sec.  who  were  inactive 
spectators  of  this  very  interesting  scene.  The  head 
of  the  animal  was  then  fixed-  in  grinning  majesty, 
on  the  pole  of  LIBERTY,  and  consecrated  to  that 


MOBOCRACY.  95 

And  were  as  "  brisk  as  bottled  ale" 
Or  dog  with  shingle  tied  to's  tail. 

But  time  would  fail  to  set  forth  now  how 
Full  many  a  democratic  pow  wow, 
Was  held  in  bawling  exultation 
For  crimes  of  our  dear  sister  nation. 

Nothing  would  suit  the  rogues  beside 
Your  madcap  freedom  Frenchified, 

goddess,  amidst  the  thunder  of  a  tremendous  swi- 
vel. In  this  state  it  remained  until  the  fate  of  the 
unfortunate  Louis  was  announced,  when  it  was  seen 
in  mourning  for  that  melancholy  event.  This  was 
conceived  very  dangerous  to  the  French  cause  by 
some  political  fanatics,  and  the  head  was  in  con- 
sequence, ignominiously  stripped  of  its  "  suit  of 
solemn  black."  In  revenge  for  this  insult,  those 
who  had  furnished  the  n.ourning,  levelled  the  sa- 
cred tree  of  Liberty  to  the  ground,  and  with  it  fell 
the  innocent  cause  of  the  contest.  The  pole  was 
put  up  and  down. ...and  up  again.. ..to  the  no  small 
amusement  of  all  unconcerned  ;  whilst  the  head, 
if  we  are  rightly  informed,  being  found,  on  examin- 
ation of  Jacobinical  strength  and  capaciousness,  was 
converted  into  a  punch-bowl,  (the  two  horns  serving 
admirably  for  handles)  and  is  now  used  as  the  re- 
ceptacle of  grog  and  flip,  by  the  Democratic  Soci- 
ety, in  this  our  enlightened  metropolis." 


96  MOBOCRACY. 

Of  which  they  vow'd  t'  import  a  cargo, 
Though  Washington  had  laid  embargo. 

And  though  'twas  shrewdly  urg'd  by  some 
That  we  had  liberty  at  home, 
Which  like  our  Chief's  religious  stuff, 
If  not  the  best  was  "  good  enough,"66 

Still  demo's  swore  to  have  the  frantic 
Kind  manufactured  o'er  the  Atlantic, 
Such  as  our  secretary  well  knows 
Suits  whiskey-insurrection  fellows.67 

Thus  nothing  pleases  bon  ton  ladies, 
Which  is  their  native  country  made  is 

66  If  not  the  best,  was  "  good  enough." 

"  Religion  is  well  supported-''  (to  wit,  in  Pennsyl- 
vania und  New-York)  "  of  various  kinds  indeed,  but 
all  good  enough." 

Notes  on  Virginia,  p.  221.  Bost.  edit.  I8mo. 

67  Suits  whiskey  insurrection  fellows. 

One  among  the  many  wonders  which  democracy 
has  achieved  in  favour  of  the  liberties  of  the  people, 
has  been,  to  elevate  to  high  and  responsible  situa- 


MO  HOC  RACY.  9T 

But  let  a  tiling  be  e'er  so  frightful, 

Dear  bought  and  far  ft-tch'd,  'iis  delightful. 

Next  we  were  punish'd  for  our  sins 
With  clubs  of  crazy  jacobins, 
Who,  with  pure  freedom  to  content  us, 
Themselves  appoint  to  represent  us.68 

Now  certain  causes  most  untoward 
Prepar'd  the  people  to  be  froward, 

lions,  certain  convicts,  most  generally  foreigners. 
The  part  which  Mr.  Gallatin  took  in  the  Pittsburgh 
insurrection,  which  cost  the  United  States  a  million 
of  dollars,  is  well  known,  and  it  is  probable  that  his 
present  elevation,  is  a  reward  for  his  patriotic  ser- 
vices on  that  occasion.  But  more  of  this  gentle- 
man hereafter. 

««  Thcmaelves  appoint  to  represent  us. 

It  is  impossible  to  imagine  a  greater  burlesque 
on  the  idea  of  a  representative  republic  than  the 
farcical  conduct  of  our  democratic  societies,  who 
by  virtue  of  no  authority  whatever,  except  that  of 
their  own  good  will  and  pleasure,  seated  themselves 
in  the  magisterial  chair,  assumed  the  appellation  of 
"  We  the  /ifo/n'r,"  and  had  the  impudence  to  dictate 
and  control  the  affairs  of  our  national  government. 


98  MOBOCRACY. 

Form'd  many  plausible  excuses 
For  mobocriitical  abuses. 

But  should  I  make  in  metre  gingle 
Those  causes  operant  all  and  single, 
Which  rais'd  'gainst  government  a  fe\v  setts 
Of  Pittsburgh  rogues,  and  Massachusetts, 

The  reader  might  compare  with  mine 
Old  Biackmoore's  everlasting  line,** 
I'll  therefore  hint  and  glance  along 
Nor  call  a  muse  to  aid  my  song. 

But  I'll  purloin  a  little.. ..why  not? 
From  classic  history  of  Minot, 
For  theft  can  need  no  other  plea 
Than  this,  Our  government  is  free  ! 

Our  demo's  steal  each  others  trash, 
While  Coleman  plies  in  vain  the  lash,70 

<»  Old  Biackmoore's  everlasting  line. 

And  Edwin  eke  out  Biackmoore's  endless  line. 

'°  While  Coleman  plies  in  vain  the  lash. 

We  allude  here  to  the  practice  of  our  good  de- 
raocruiic  managers  of  newspapers,  who  by   virtue 


MOBOCRACY.  9.S 

And  prithee,  therefore,  why  can  I  not 
Steal  my  Mobocracy  from  Minot "? 

Fas  cst  ab  kostc  et  doceri, 

If  that  be  true  why  then  'th  clear  I.... 

But  gentle,  reader,  have  you  read  it ! 

"  Yes".... then  I'll  give  my  a*  uhor  credit." 

of  what  Cheetham  calls,  "  the  arts  of  ahte  editors," 
publish  matter  as  original  which  they  have  stolen 
from  some  other  paper.  This  trick  has  been  ex- 
posed by  the  editor  of  the  New- York  FA'ening  Post, 
whose  exertions  in  bringing  to  light  the  scoundrel- 
ism  of  the  faction,  entitle  him  to  the  gratitude  of 
every  friend  to  the  prosperity  of  his  country. 

71  Then'I'll  give  my  author  credit. 

The  nature  and  operation  of  the  causes,  which 
led  to  the  rebellion  in  Massachusetts,  are  explained 
in  a  lucid  and  masterly  manner,  in  the  history  of 
George  Richards  Minot  ;  the  style  of  which  might 
rank  its  author  as  the  Sallust  of  America.  Accord- 
ing to  that  writer,  the  commonwealth  of  Massachu- 
setts was  in  debt,  upwards  of  1 ,350,000/.  private  state 
debt,  exclusive  of  the  federal  debt,  which  amounted 
to  above  one  million  and  an  half  of  the  same  mo- 
ney. And  in  addition  to  that,  every  town  was  em- 
barrassed by  advances  they  had  made  to  comply 
with  repeated  requisitions  for  men  and  supplies  to 


100  MOBOCRACY. 

And  then  proceed  in  rhyme  and  prosing, 
Nor  mind  if  you're  a\vake  or  dosing, 

support  the  army,  and  which  had  been  done  upon 
their  own  particular  credit.  The  people,  he  informs 
us,  "  kad  been  laudably  employed,  during  the  nine 
years  in  which  this  debt  had  been  accumulating,  in 
the  defence  of  their  liberties  ;  but  though  their  con- 
test had  instructed  them  in  the  nobler  science  of 
the  rights  of  mankind  yet  it  gave  them  no  propor- 
tionable insight  into  the  mazes  of  finance.  Their 
honest  prejudices  were  averse  to  duties  of  impost 
and  excise,  which  were  at  that  time  supposed  to  be 
anti-republican,  by  many  judicious  and  influential 
characters. 

"  The  consequences  of  the  public  debt  did  not  at 
first  appear  among  the  citizens  at  large.  The  bulk 
cf  mankind  are  too  much  engaged  in  private  concerns^ 
to  anticipate  the  operation  of  national  causes.  The 
men  of  landed  interest,  soon  began  to  speak  plainly 
against  trade,  as  the  source  of  luxury,  and  the  cause 
of  losing  the  circulating  medium,"  &c. 

"  Commercial  men.  on  the  other  hand,  defended 
themselves  by  insisting  that  the  fault  was  only  in 
the  regulations  which  the  trade  happened  to  be  un- 
der," Sec. 

The  writer  then  proceeds  to  point  out  other 
causes  which  contributed  to  lead  the  people  astray  ; 
.and  his  history  exhibits  abundant  proof,  that  the 
people  at  large  are  not  always  correct  judges  of 
what  political  measures  may  best  subserve  their 
own  prosperity. 


MOBOCRACY.  101 

In  simple,  homespun,  manner  shewing 
AVaat  set  Monocracy  a  going. 

When  our  wig  champions  fain  would  hit  on 
Successful  modes  for  thwarting  Britain, 
Our  leaders  thought  that  they  were  right  in 
Wiiatever  kindled  ire  for  fighting. 

To  paint  the  ills,  which  power  attend 
Our  men  of  mind  their  talents  lend, 
But  overlook  the  great  propriety 
Of  power  to  guaranty  society  .n 

7»  Of  flower  to  guaranty  society. 

The  jealousy  of  republicans  ttgaiftst  dcle^ti'iti^ 
power,  has  most  generally  been  the  cause  of  their 
destruction.  No  community  can  long Sttbsiat 'with- 
out authority  to  coerce  and  punish  ;  but  such  au- 
thority ought  to  be  marked  by  legal  and  well  defin- 
ed boundaries,  and  entrusted  to  such  men  only  as 
have  their  characters  established  for  integrity  as 
well  as  abilities.  The  only  method  which  can  be 
devised  to  prevent  the  assum/idcn,  by  unprincipled 
men,  of  that  flower,  -which  is  tyranny  in  effect,  what- 
ever may  be  its  name  or  disguise,  is  to  delegate 
legal  flower  without  too  much  jealousy  or  reserve, 
o  men,  who  will  be  a  l>  terror  to  evil  doers." 
K  2 


102  MOBOCRACY. 

Hence,  brave  men  who  our  battles  fought, 
Did  not  distinguish  as  they  ought 
The  odds  existing  in  a  high  sense 
'Twixt  Liberty  and  boundless  license. 

And  when  they  found  our  chiefs  intent 
On  building  up  a  government, 
And  that  one  of  its  consequences 
Would  be  some  national  expenses.73 

73  Would  be  some  national  expenses. 

There  is  nothing  in  which  our  democratic  politi- 
cians are  more  profoundly  absurd,  than  in  their  esti- 
mates of  national  economy.  The  penny-saving  max- 
ims of  Dr.  Franklin,  injudiciously  applied  to  affairs 
of  national  magnitude,  are  of  very  mischievous  ten- 
dency. Money  paid  for  public  purposes,  which  is 
expended  among  the  inhabitants  of  a  country,  does 
not  impoverish  such  inhabitants.  It  is  paid  by  the 
people  to  the  government,  and  by  the  government 
distributed  among  the  people.  If  it  be  so  distri- 
buted as  to  be  a  reward  to  merit,  and  give  a  pro- 
per tone  to  industry,  there  is  little  danger  of  being 
too  lavish.  The  whole  body  politic  becomes  invig- 
orated by  its  circulation  ;  the  farmer  and  the  me- 
chanic finding  a  ready  sale  for  their  commodities, 
are  stimulated  to  that  industry  which  constitutes 
the  veal  wealth  of  a  nation. 


MOBOCRACY.  .       10S 

Our  honest  clever  country  folks 
Did  not  well  relish  such  dry  jokes, 
But  many  a  moody  murmur  mutter'd, 
And  words  to  this  effect  were  uttcr'd : 

"  We  thought  that  when  the  war  was  over 
"  Americans  would  live  in  clover, 
"  That  nothing  then  would  vex  and  harass  us« 
"  No  debts  nor  taxes  to  embarrass  us. 

"  We've  fought  a  long  and  bloody  war, 
*'  But  what  have  we  been  fighting  for,  [ing 
"  If  king  George  thrown  off,  we  are  load- 
"  Our  backs  with  weight  of  one  king  Bow- 
doin. 

**  What,  shall  we  sell  our  hoes  and  axes, 
11  For  paying  arbitrary  taxes? 
"  No. ...and  for  rulers,  we  don't  need  'em 
"  In  this  good  land  of  perfect  freedom. 

"  With  all  our  toil,  and  all  our  blood, 
"  One  tyrant  makes  another  good, 
"  Our  boasted  freedom  is  a  sham, 
'*  Not  woith  a  single  whisky  dram. 

Such  sentiments  had  long  been  brewing, 
And  boded  nothing  less  than  ruin 


104  MOBOCRACY. 

To  our  still  weak  confederation, 
Too  novel  for  consolidation. 

Thus  stiff- neck'd  Israelites  of  old 
"Were  froward,  insolent  and  bold, 
With  other  jacobin  procedures 
Full  oft  rebell'd  against  their  leaders. 

Now  fann'd  by  Gailatins  and  Shayses, 
The  fire  of  civil  discord  blazes, 
And  breaks  out  in  a  vile  rebellion, 
Yea,  two  or  three,  which  I  might  tell  ye  on. 

But  scampering  off  from  Petersham 
Without  their  wonted  morningdram,  [der'd, 
Their  courage  cool'd....the  rogues  surren- 
On  easy  terms,  in  mercy  tender'd. 

Though  rebels,  under  Shays  and  Gallatin, 
Received  from  government  a  malleting, 
And  social  harmony  seem'd  ratified, 
Too  many  still  remained  dissatisfied. 

The  mouldering  flame  in  secret  burn'd,. 
"When  Jefferson  from  France  return'd, 


MOBOCRACY.  105 

To  aid  the  Factions'  frantic  schemes, 
With  fresh  illuminated  dreams.*4 

74  With  fresh  illuminated  dreams. 

We  have  it  from  good  authority  that  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son actually  became  initiated,  while  in  Paris,  into 
the  mysteries  of  Illuminisru,  and  his  writings  and 
conduct,  since  his  embassy  to  France,  display  '•  in- 
ternal evidence"  of  his  being  infected  with  the  poi- 
son of  illuminated  principles.  '•  Condorcet,  like- 
wise (a  well  known  Illuminatus)  was  a  particular 
friend  of  our  American  philosopher."*  His  advo- 
cates, who  would  maintain  that  he  imbibed  no  new 
principles  in  France,  which  smack  of  Illuminism, 
must  be  under  the  necessity  of  affirming,  that  hones- 
ty never  was  the  fiolicy  of  a  certain  great  man. ...that 
he  never  did  scruple  about  the  means,  provided  the 
end  could  be  obtained.  His  advice  to  Congress,  re- 
specting the  transfer  of  the  debt  due  to  France,  to  a 
company  of  Hollanders,  is  a  proof  in  point.  In 
stating  this,  I  shall  have  recourse  to  the  pamphlet 
of  Mr.  Smith,  referred  to  above. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  says  that  writer,  after  mentioning 
an  offer  which  had  been  made  by  a  company  of  Hol- 
landers, for  the  purchase  of  the  debt,  concludes 
with  these  extraordinary  expressions  : 

"  If  there  is  a  danger  of  the  public  payments  not 

*  See  a  fiamfihlei ',  written  by  William  Sm'fh,  Esq, 
rf  S'jiit/i  Car<J^na^  with  the  signature  of  PHOCION, 


i06  MONOCRACY. 

In  Weishaupt's  school  his  lesson  learn'd 
He  with  pernicious  ardour  burn'd, 

being  punctual,  I  submit,  whether  it  may  not  be 
better,  that  the  discontents  which  would  then  arise, 
should  be  transferred  from  a  court,  of  whose  good 
will  me  have  so  much  need,  to  the  breasts  of  a  pri- 
vate com/>any." 

"  This  letter  was  the  subject  of  a  report  from  the 
Board  of  Treasury,  in  February,  1787.  The  board 
treated  the  idea  of  transfer,  proposed,  as  both  UN- 
JUST and  IMPOLITIC  ;  unjust,  because  the  nation- 
would  contract  an  engagement,  which  there  was  no 
well  grounded  prospect  of  fulfilling  ;  impolitic,  be- 
cause a  failure  in  the  payment  of  interest  on  this 
debt  transferred  (which  was  inevitable)  would  justly 
blast  all  hopes  of  credit  with  the  citizens  of  the 
United  Netherlands,  in  future  pressing  exigencies 
of  the  union  ;  and  the  Board  gave  it  as  their  opin- 
ion, that  it  would  be  advisable  for  Congress,  with- 
out delay,  to  instruct  their  minister  at  the  court  of 
France,  to  forbear  giving  his  sanction  to  any  such 
transfer. 

"  Congress,  agreeing  in  the  ideas  of  the  Board, 
caused  an  instruction  to  that  effect  to  be  sent  to  Mr. 
Jefferson.  Here  there  was  a  solemn  act  of  govern- 
ment, condemning  the  principle  as  unjust  and  impolitic. 

"  If  the  sentiment  contained  in  the  extract  which 
has  been  recited,  can  be  vindicated  from  political 
profligacy,  then  /*  it  necessary  to  unlearn  all  the  an- 
cient notions  of  justice,  and  to  substitute  some  new 
fashioned  scheme  of  morality  in  their  stead. 


MOBOCRACY.  10f 

To  introduce  his  lohimsicalilies, 
And  make  them  in  our  land  realities. 

"  Here  is  no  complicated  problem,  which  sophis- 
try may  entangle  or  obscure  ;  here  is  a  plain  ques- 
tion of  moral  feeling.  A  government  is  encourag- 
ed on  the  express  condition  of  not  having  a  prospect  of 
making  a  due  provision  for  a  debt  which  it  owes  ; 
to  concur  in  a  transfer  of  :hat  debt  from  a  nation,  well 
ab-'f  to  bear  the  inconveniences  of  a  failure  or  de- 
lay, to  the  individuals,  whose  total  ruin  might  have 
been  the  consequence  of  it ;  and  that,  upon  the  in- 
terested consideration  of  having  need  of  the  good 
will  of  the  creditor  nation,  and  with  the  dishonor- 
able motive,  as  is  clearly  implied,  of  having  more  to 
apprehend  from  the  discontents  of  that  nation,  than 
from  those  of  disappointed  and  betrayed  individuals  ? 
Let  every  honest  and  impartial  mind,  consulting  its 
own  spontaneous  emotions,  pronounce  for  itself 
upon  the  rectitude  of  such  a  suggestion. 

"  An  effort,  scarcely  plausible,  has  been  hereto- 
fore made  by  the  partizans  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  to  ex- 
plain away  the  turpitude  of  this  advice.*  It  was  re- 
presented, that  "  A  company  of  adventuring  specu- 
lators, had  offered  to  purchase  the  debt  at  a  discount, 
foreseeing  the  delay  of  payment,  calculating  the 
probable  loss,  and  willing  to  encounter  the  hazard." 
But  the  terms  employed  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  refute 

*  See  Jrffer.von'8  attempted  vindication,  in  Dun- 
tap' a  Daily  ddvertiter,  of  October,  1792. 


108  MODOCRACY. 

Nature  ne'er  made  a  fitter  man 
To  give  effect  to  such  a  plan, 

this  species  of  apology.  His  words  are,  "  If  there 
"  is  a  danger  of  the  public  payments  not  being  fiunc- 
"  tual,  I  submit,  whether  it  may  not  be  better,  that 
»'  the  discontents  tvhich  would  then  arise,  should  be 
"  transferred  from  a  court,  of  whose  good  mill  ive 
"  have  so  much  need,  to  the  breasts  of  a  private  com- 
"  fiany." 

Me  plainly  takes  it  for  granted,  that  discontents 
would  arise,  from  the  want  of  an  adequate  provi- 
sion, and  proposes  that  they  should  be  transferred 
to  the  breasts  of  individuals.  This  he  could  not 
have  taken  for  granted,  if,  in  his  conception,  the 
purchasers  had  calculated  on  delay  and  loss. 

Here  we  have  the  full  effulgence  of  Godwinism 
bursting  upon  us  !  It  was  an  attempt  to  implicate 
the  government  of  America,  in  a  sale  of  bad  securi- 
ties, the  venders  knowing  them  to  be  such.  The 
"  transfer,"  of  "  discontents,"  which  Mr,  Jefferson 
foresaw  would  arise  from  the  French  court,  to  the 
poor  Hollanders,  ta  the  piobable  ruin  of  the  latter, 
is  somewhat  similar  in  kind,  to  \\iz  ju&tice  which  the 
author  of  Hudibras  attributes  to  the  first  settlers  of 
New-England. 

"  Our  brethren  of  N"e\v  England  use 
Choice  malefactor*  to  excuse, 
And  hang  the  guiltless  in  their  stead, 
Of  \\hom  the  churches  have  less  need  ; 


MOBOCRACY.  1Q9 

Nor  do  I  think,  with  ten  years  pother, 
That  she  could  hit  out  such  another. 

As  lately  't  happen'cl :  in  a  town 
There  liv'd  a  cobler,  and  but  one, 
That  out  of  doctrine  could  cut  use, 
And  mend  men's  lives  as  well  as  shoes, 
This  precious  brother  having  slain 
In  time  of  peace  an  Indian, 
(Not  out  of  malice,  but  mere  zealj 
Because  he  was  an  infidel) 
The  mighty  TOTTIPOTTYMOY, 
Sent  to  our  elders  an  envoy, 
Complaining  sorely  of  the  breach 
Of  league  held  forth  by  brother  Patch 
Against  the  articles  in  force, 
Between  both  churches,  his  and  ours  ; 
For  which  he  crav'd  the  saints  to  render 
Into  his  hands  or  hang  the  offender  ; 
But  they  maturely  having  weigh'd, 
They  had  no  more  but  him  o'  th*  trade, 
A  man  that  serv'd  them  in  a  double 
Capacity,  to  teach  and  cobble, 
Resolv'd  to  spare  him  ;  yet,  to  do 
The  Indian  Hoghan  Moghan  too 
Impartial  justice,  in  his  stead,  did 
Hang  an  old  weaver  that  was  bed-rid !" 

"s  To  give  effect  to  such  a  plan. 

Mr.  Jefferson's  pretensions  to  the  station  he 
holds,  have  been  frequently  scanned  by  men, 
whose  talents  and  opportunities  have  given  them 


110  MOBOCRACY. 

Phlegmatic,  cunning,  and  wrong  headed 
To  visionary  tenets  wedded, 

peculiar  advantages  for  the  investigation.  The  re- 
sult has  appeared  to  be  somewhat  unfavourable,  un- 
less for  the  purposes  of  the  party  now  predomin- 
ant, he  should  be  thought  better  than  a  better  man. 
But  the  principal  traits  in  his  character,  are  so 
well  exhibited  in  the  pamphlet  of  Mr.  Smith,  that 
we  are  tempted  again  to  quote,  from  his  produc- 
tion, the  following  summary  of  the  wonderful  qual- 
ifications of  our  chief  magistrate. 

"  We  shall  now  take  leave  of  Mr.  Jefferson  and 
his  pretensions,  as  a  philosopher  and  politician. 
The  candid  and  unprejudiced,  who  have  read  with 
attention  the  foregoing  comments  on  his  philoso- 
phical and  political  works,  and  on  his  public  con- 
duct, must  now  be  convinced,  however  they  may 
hitherto  have  been  deceived  by  a  plausible  appear- 
ance and  specious  talents,  or  misled  by  artful  par- 
tizans,  that  the  reputation  he  has  acquired  is  not 
bottomed  on  solid  mmY....that  his  abilities  have  been 
more  directed  to  the  acquirement  of  literary  fame, 
than  to  the  substantial  good  of  his  country. ...that 
his  philosophical  opinions  have  been  capricious  and 
wavering,  often  warped  by  the  most  frivolous  cir- 
cumstances....that  in  his  political  conduct  he  has 
been  timid,  inconsistent,  and  unsteady,  generally 
favouring  measures  of  a  factious  and  disorganizing 
tendency,  always  leaning  to  those  which  would 
establish  his  popularity,  however  destructive  of  our 


MOBOCRACY.  in 

A  writer,  plausible,  sophistical, 
Never  profound,  but  always  mystical. 

peace  and  tranquility....that  his  political  principles 
are  sometimes  whimsical  and  visionary,  at  others, 
subversive  of  all  regular  and  stable  government.... 
that  his  writings  have  betrayed  a  disrespect  for  re- 
ligion, and  his  partiality  for  the  impious  Pcinc,  an 
enmity  to  Christianity. ...that  his  advice  respecting 
the  Dutch  company,  and  his  open  countenance  of 
an  incendiary  printer,  and  of  the  views  of  a  faction, 
manifest  a  want  of  due  regard  for  national  faith  and 
public  credit. ...that  his  abhorrence  of  one  foreign  na- 
tion, and  en: husiastic  devotion  to  another,  have  ex- 
tinguished in  him  every  germ  of  real  national  cha- 
racter ;  and,  in  short,  that  his  elevation  to  the  pre- 
sidency, must  eventuate  either  in  the  debasement  of 
the  American  name,  by  a  whimsical,  inconsistent 
and  feeble  administration,  or  in  the  prostration  of 
the  United  States  at  the  feet  of  France,  the  sub-ver- 
sion of  our  excellent  constitution,  and  the  consequent 
destruction  of  our  present  prosperity." 

Such  is  the  character,  who  now  presides  in  Amer- 
ica, as  drawn  by  a  gentleman,  who  has  held  some  of 
the  most  important  offices  in  our  government,  and 
such  the  predictions,  which  we  fear  are  beginning  to 
be  fulfilled  in  this  country.  The  prostration  of 
the  Judiciary,  and  the  sacrifice  of  the  greater  part 
of  our  navy,  are  alarming  forerunners  of  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  prophecy. 


112  MOBOCRACY. 

Possess 'd  of  that  mysterious  air, 
Which  makes  the  gaping  vulgar  stare, 
And  gives  the  weakest  men  dominion, 
Founded  on  popular  opinion. 

His  native  cunning  to  enhance, 
He  adds  the  dark  finesse  of  France, 
Reduc'd  to  system,  by  the  rules 
Of  jacobin-illumin'd  schools. 

Supported  by  the  factious  heads 

Of  ever  restless  anti-feds, 

Rogues  to  true  liberty  a  pest, 

Who  make  her  seat  an  hornet's  nest.7' 

rfl  Who  make  her  seat  an  hornet's  nest. 

We  commenced  the  manufacture  of  this  our  po- 
etical production,  with  a  determination,  which  we 
think  all  candid  critics  will  pronounce  not  a  little 
laudable,  to  deduce,  so  far  as  convenient,  our  poet- 
ical and  rhetorical  flourishes  from  O's-Atlantic  sour- 
ces. And  here  we  think  that  our  reviewers  will 
do  us  the  justice  to  acknowledge,  that  no  poet's 
••  eye  in  a  fine  frenzy  rolling"  ever  glanced  at  a 
prettier  comparison  than  this  of  a  nest  of  those 
irascible  insects  with  a  commonwealth  infested  by 
v.iibMlent  demagogues. 


MOBOCRACY.  »»S 

He  begs  the  boon  with  vast  humility 
To  introduce  perfectibility. 
For  man,  he's  sure,  unless  we  manage  ill, 
Will  rise  one  link  above  the  angel. 

(This  quack  perfection  still  we  find 
Among  the  vilest  of  mankind 
A  favorite  doctrine,  sure  the  elves 
Can't  judge  of  others  by  themselves.) 

And  now  the  wicked  faction  join'd 

To  tamper  with  the  public  mind, 

Of  liberty  kept  such  a  bawling 

It  seem'd  the  rogues  would  take  us  all  in. 

But  honest  people  soon  behold 
That  all  which  glitters  is  not  gold, 
Discern  in  sticklers  of  mobocracy 
A  deal  of  scandalous  hypocrisy. 

That  were  not  justice  in  arrears       [ears," 
These  New  school  folks  would  lack  their 

7T  These  New  school  folks  would  lack  their  ears. 

It  is  a   truth,  which   we  think  even  democrats 
themselves  will   not  have  the   effrontery  to  deny, 
lhat  the  leaders  of  their  party  are  men  whose  moral 
L  2 


1  14  MOBOCRACY. 

Of  course  don't  much  admire  their  plan 
For  perfecting  the  creature  man. 

Our  demos  then  with  great  propriety, 
Are  hooted  at  throughout  society, 
And  many  a  rascally  curmudgeon, 
Is  nicely  bang'd  with  satire's  bludgeon  ; 

Yes,  many  a  chief  whom  now  they  boast, 
Was  tied  to  satire's  whipping-post, 

characters  will  not  bear  examination.  Is  it  not 
then  astonishing,  that  Americans  should  trust  their 
all  important  political  interests,  upon  which  cttjpends 
the  enjoyment  of  their  lives,  liberty,  and  property, 
to  men  with  whom  they  would  have  no  dealings  in 
their  private  capacity  ?  It  is  not  too  much  to  say, 
that  many  men  who  have  the  management  of  our 
public  concerns,  or  are  patronized  and  pensioned 
editors  of  newspapers,  are  known  to  be  alike  des- 
tituteof  honourand  honesty.  The  infamous  charac- 
ter of  Pasquin  the  right  hand  Chronicle  man,  is  almost 
proverbial  in  England.  The  political  career  of  a 
certain  honorable  duellist,  has  been  remarkable  for 
****jbut  as  this  gentleman  is  an  excellent  shot,  and 
in  constant  practice  it  may  not  be  prudent  to  offend 
him.  We  wish,  however,  that  our  readers  would  can- 
didly and  coolly  compare  the  qualifications  of  the  fed- 
eralists, with  those  of  the  democrats,  and  not  give 


MOBOCRACY.  115 

Their  foremost  partizans  now  dashing, 
Had  their  deserts  in  many  a  lashing.71 

The  fed-wits  serv'd  the  scoundrel  fry  as 
Of  old  Apollo  serv'd  Marsyas, 
What  time  his  Godship  did  contrive 
To  skin  the  whistling  chap  alive. 

But  still  determin'd  not  to  yield, 
Though  trodden  down,  they  kept  the  field. 

the  preference  to  the  latter,  merely  because  they 
style  themselves  republicans. 

19  Had  their  deserts  in  many  a  lashing. 

It  is  notorious  that  the  family  of  wit  have  ever 
been  federalists.  Most  of  the  "  half  formed  wit- 
lings,' who  have  occasionally  dashed  in  democratic 
newspapers,  like  your  Cheethams  and  your  Pas- 
quins,  are  beings  beneath  notice  in  a  literary  point 
of  view. 

Apollo  views,  with  honest  pride 
His  favourites  all  on  federal  side. 

Hence  these  poor  creatures  have  generally  pas- 
sively submitted  to  the  Federal  lash,  and  pretended 
to  despise  their  opponents  like  a  blustering  bully, 
who  brags  though  he  is  beaten. 


116  MOBOCRACY. 

Display 'd  of  feeling  less  the  powers 

Than  rogues,  who  have  beenhung  for  hours.76 

When  haply  hit  off  to  a  tittle, 
At  first  it  nettled  them  a  little, 
But  careless  apathy  now  boasting, 
They  quietly  submit  to  roasting. 

Thus  Jack  Ketch,  having  noos'd  a  paddy, 
("  Perhaps,  O  Sylph  !».... 'twas  Duane's 

daddy')80 

7»  Than  rogues  who  have  been  hung  for  hours. 

You  will  find,  gentle  reader,  by  turning  to  "  Ter- 
rible Tractoration,"  p.  64,  New-York  edition,  a 
notable  instance  of  sensibiliiy^  expressed  by  a  felon 
who  had  been  executed  for  murder,  who  being 
somewhat  "  oppugnated"  by  a  meddling  philoso- 
pher, with  his  Galvanic  stimulants,  clenched  his  tight 
handy  and  exhibited  other  menacing  symptoms  of 
his  being  alive  to  the  affront.  B  it  our  democrats, 
though  spitted  with  the  arrows  of  satire,  by  the 
merciless  wits  of  the  age,  and  roasted  before  the 
slow  fire  of  public  indignation,  appear  to  possess  as 
little  feeling  as  the  "  passive  ox,"  that  graced  the 
democratic  fete  in  Boston,  held  in  honor  of  the 
French  revolution. 

86  ("  Perhaps,  O  Sylph  !".... 'twas  Duane's  daddy  !) 
This  petty  piece  of  an  apostorphe  we  hereby  ac- 


MOBOCRACY.  117 

Who  made  more  growling  than  was  fit. 
And  did  not  love  to  swing  one  bit ;.... 

A  fellow  sufferer  by  his  side 

A  crum  of  comfort  thus  applied, 

"  Your  blubbering,  Pat,  has  no  excuse  to't, 

"  You  k?iow,  you  Irish  dogs  are  us'd  to^t  /" 

Nothing  did  demos  any  good 
But  syllogisms  made  of  wood," 

knowledge  to  have  taken  "verbatim  et  literatim  from 
one  of  Moore's  songs.  We  consider  this  Confes- 
sion as  a  very  proper  proceeding  on  our  part  ;  for 
having  in  our  last  edition  inadvertently  hit  on  one 
of  Butler's  rhymes,  a  democratic  scribbler  in  the 
Baltimore  Evening  Post  the  tertium  quid  paper  of 
that  place  has  raised  a  hue  and  cry  against  us,  for- 
sooth for  plagiarism.  As  well  might  the  booby 
affirm  that  we  had  stolen  our  poetry  from  Ci- 
cero's Orations,  because  we  make  use  of  the 
Roman  alphabet.  This  would-be  critic  has  an 
undoubted  right  in  a  free  government,  to  be  a  fool, 
but  if  he  has  set  up/or  a  wity  his  best  way,  as  Swift 
has  it,  is  to  *et  down  again. 

81  But  syllogisms  made  of  wood. 

The  famous  sfiitting  affray,  and  the  consequent 
cudgelling  in  Congress  hall,  where 


H8  MOBOCRACY. 

But  these  applied  \vith  proper  force, 
Confounded  jacobins  of  course. 

They  found  the  basis  of  their  grandeur, 
Must  be  deceit,  and  lies,  and  slander, 
The  only  possible  foundation 
Of  democratic  reputation. 

Their  crafty  chief,  with  other  fetches, 
Hires  a  vile  gang  of  foreign  wretches, 

"  With  many  a  lusty  thwack  and  bang, 
"  Hard  crab-tree  and  old  iron  rang," 

are  well  known  to  every  body.  An  ap/ieal  to  the 
right  of  the  strongest,  became  in  that  instance  jus- 
tifiable, if  not  unavoidable,  in  consequence  of  the  ob- 
stinacy of  the  party  whose  political  sentiments 
agreed  with  the  gentleman,  who  in  that  rencounter 
had  the  honor  to  be  the  cudgellce.  It  is  to  be  fear- 
ed, however,  that  the  most  forcible  arguments  of 
this  kind,  will  not  always  be  sufficiently  powerful 
to  make  a  lasting  impression  on  the  headstrong  de- 
magogues of  this  faction.  Some  political  partizans, 
have  shown  themselves  to  be  so  wilfully  blind,  ob- 
stinate, and  ignorant,  that  the  means  which  we  have 
mentioned  in  "  Terrible  Tractoration," 

Of  making  sky  lights  to  the  mind, 
By  boring  a  hole  through  the 


MOBOCRACY.  119 

To  lie  down  every  man  of  merit,*3 
Of  honesty  and  public  spirit. 

His  sovereign  friends  the  mob  caresses 
From  twenty  different  hireling  presses, 
Who  spread  vile  lies,  with  vast  sedulity, 
T'  impose  on  honest  men's  credulity. 

seem  to  be  the  only  practicable  mode  by  which 
they  can  be  enlightened.  But  this  method  will  not 
be  adopted  by  the  federalists.  The  more  violent 
demagogues  of  the  now  ruling  party,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  will  be  the  first  to  sacrifice  their  leaders, 
while  the  latter,  like  Fayette  in  France,  and  like 
M'Kean  in  America,  strive  in  vain  to  hush  the  hur- 
ricane of  their  own  exciting. 

M  To  lie  down  every  man  of  merit. 

The  falsehoods,  which  Callender  and  others  have 
been  fiaid  for  propagating,  the  torrents  of  abuse 
which  have  been  poured  upon  Washington  and 
other  patriots,  are  now.  happily  for  the  public,  pretty 
generally  traced  to  their  filthy  sources.  The  cha- 
racters  of  the  men  who  have  been  vilified  by  the 

scoundrel-gang  of  Mr.  J n's  hirelings,  are  found 

to  be  such  as  do  honor  to  our  country.  But  their 
calumniators.... who  are  they  ?  Cheethami>,  Pasquins, 
Duanes...  men  who  (to  talk  like  an  Irishman)  had 
they  lived  i  i  their  native  country  till  this  time  would 
have  been  Aung,  years  ago. 


!?•  MOBOCRACY. 

Gives  foreigners  our  loaves  and  fishes" 
To  bend  our  counsels  to  his  wishes, 

«3  Gives  foreigners  our  loaves  and  fishes. 

It  is  a  truth  which  the  political  history  of  Ame- 
rica makes  abundantly  manifest,  that  the  principal 
disturbances  which  have  convulsed  the  United 
States,  have  originated  in  the  intrigues  of  "  im- 
ported patriots."  This  is  a  circumstance,  which  is 
by  no  means  remarkable,  when  we  consider  the 
habits  attachments,  and  situations  of  such  foreign- 
ers in  their  native  country.  Few  men  are  disposed 
to  migrate  from  the  land  of  their  nativity,  who  are 
not  thereto  induced  by  misconduct,  or  a  turbulent 
and  aspiring  disposition.  The  principle  which  is 
denominated  ftatriotism,  modern  philosophers  not- 
withstanding, is  implanted  in  man  by  the  hand  of 
nature,  and  he  who  has  divested  himself  of  that 
principle,  either  by  /iliiloso/ilii-ing^  or  by  any  other 
still  less  justifiable  means,  must  have  rooted  out 
those  mor.il  feelings  which  are  the  best  security  of 
society.  Besides,  foreigners  who  leave  their  native 
countries,  with  a  determination  to  settle  in  America, 
a  e.  generally,  men  who  have  been  accustomed  to 
be  governed  themselves,  and  to  the  amount  of  their 
powers,  to  govern  others  with  a  strong  arm.... 
have  either  themselves  been  hard  pressed  by  the 
heavy  hand  of  government,  or  have  been,  as  mem- 
bers of  such  government,  active  in  imposing  a  heavy 
nand  on  others.  They  have,  generally,  no  definite 


MOBOCRACY.  121 

And  guillotine  the  reputation 
Of  every  good  man  in  the  nation. 

Fellows,  who  sped  away  betimes 
To  seek  "  asylum"  from  their  crimes, 
In  annals  of  Old  Bailey  noted, 
Are  in  "Freedonia"  promoted.84 

ideas  of  that  temperate  liberty,  which  is  as  remote 
from  licentiousness  as  it  is  from  despotism. 

All  nations,  except  the  American,  have  found  it  ne- 
cessary to  lay  aliens  under  certain  restrictions,  disad- 
vantages and  liabilities,  which,  though  they  may 
appear  to  operate  as  an  hardship  on  the  individuals 
subjected  thereto,  are  imperiously  demanded  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  the  best  interests  of  the  com- 
munities in  which  such  aliens  reside.  If  such  re- 
gulations are  necessary  in  other  nations,  they  will 
be  found  pre-eminently  requisite  in  that  of  Ame- 
rica, where,  such  is  the  want  of  power  in  our  rulers, 
and  so  delicate  is  the  mechanism  of  the  govern- 
ment, that  a  single  Gallatin  may  impede,  if  not  stop 
its  wheels.  But  this  subject  has  been  ably  dis- 
cussed in  Congress,  in  the  debates  respecting  the 
repeal  of  the  Alien  Law. 

84  Are,  in  "  Frtedonia"  promoted. 

Freedonia  is  a  cant  phrase,  which  certain  small 
M 


122  MOBOCRACY. 

Vile  renegades  of  every  nation 
Are  sure  to  gain  an  elevation, 
But  honesty  and  reputation 
^\re  passports  to  a  private  station. 

These  wretches  now  announce  hostility 
To  talents,  virtue  and  civility85 

poets  or  prosaic  scribblers,  we  forget  which,  would 
have  us  adopt  as  an  appellative  to  designate  the 
United  States  of  America.  At  a  time  like  this, 
when  misrule  and  licentiousness  are  the  order  of 
the  day,  there  can  be  but  little  propriety  in  coining 
new  phrases  to  enrich  the  vocabulary  of  sedition. 

85  To  talents,  virtue,  and  civility. 

There  always  is  something  "  rotten  in  the  state 
•f  Denmark,"  if  men  of  the  first  abilities'  are  de- 
cried by  demagogues,  and  pointed  out  as  proper 
objects  for  the  jealousy  of  the  people.  That  the 
principal  talents  in  America  are  now  in  disgrace 
because  they  are  federalists,  none  but  the  most  brazen 
faced  partizans  will  deny.  If  by  talents  >however, 
we  are  to  understand 

"  That  low  cunning,  which  in  fools  supplies, 
"  And  amply  too,  the  place  of  being  wi-e  ;" 

CHURCHILL, 

we  must  allow  the  dominant  party  are  far  from  be- 


MOBOCRACY.  123 

Direct  their  vandalizing  ravages 

To  make  men  like  themselves,  mere  savages. 

By  creeping  cunning  overbalance 
The  weight  of  wisdom,  and  of  talents, 
Like  Absalom,  with  wicked  arts, 
Contrive  to  steal  the  people's  hearts. 

The  leading  demos  have  their  tools, 

A  mongrel  set,  'twixt  knaves  and  fools,80 

ing  deficient.  But  tvifdom  and  cunning  are  very- 
distinct  attributes,  although  by  many  absurdly 
blended.  The  former  qualifies  its  possessors  to  ag- 
grandize society,  at  the  same  time  that  it  promotes 
the  interests  of  all  its  individuals.  The  latter  is  of 
no  consequence  to  any  person  but  its  possessor, 
and  is  by  him  usually  employed  to  exalt  himself  at 
the  expense  of  society,  or  of  individuals.  Wisdom 
was-  well  exemplified  in  Washington,  cunning  in 
J u. 

18  A  mongrel  set,  'twixt  knaves  and  fools. 

Your  half  •wits  are,  by  nuture,  formed  for  Democ- 
racy. Leaden  pated  gentlemen,  who  vainly  aspire 
to  eminence  in  the  learned  professions,  quack-doc- 
tors, illiterate  clergymen,  and  blundering  lawyers, 
are  the  Democracy  of  nature,  and  their  opposes 
are,  sometimes,  styled  the  Aristrocracy  of  nature 


124  MOBOCRACY. 

But  I've  not  patience  to  examine  a 
Crew  that's  so  destitute  of  stamina. 

These,  by  arch  demagogues  are  led  on, 
And  futile  promises  are  fed  on, 
Enjoying,  by  anticipation 
Some  post  of  profit  in  the  nation.*7 

Between  these  two  sorts  of  candidates  for  eminence, 
there  will  always  exist  a  covert  or  an  open  war. 
Those  who  belong  to  that  class  in  society,  which 
nature  intended  should  move  in  a  subordinate  and 
limited  sphere,  are  rarely  contented  with  their  con- 
dition, but  by  means  of  the  little  arts  of  little  minds, 
elevate  themselves  to  an  artificial  consequence, 
which  terminates  in  their  disgrace  and  the  public 
detriment. 

87  Some  post  of  profit  in  the  nation. 

The  impossibility  of  realizing  all  these  anticipa- 
tions, must  create  divisions  and  subdivisions  among 
the  now  triumphant  demagogues.  Those  who  have 
been  honestly  led  astray,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  unite 
heart  and  hand  with  those  who  have  constantly 
trod  the  path  of  Federal  rectitude,  and  form  a  un- 
ion of  upright  and  intelligent  men,  who  may  yet 
preserve  the  nation  from  the  "  abhorred  gulf"  of 
Democratic  tyranny. 


MOBOCRA.CY.  125 

And  now  to  make  the  people  jealous, 
The  scoundrels  undertake  to  tell  us, 
They  are  themselves  the  chosen  band, 
"  Exclusive  patriots'*  of  the  land. 

Thus,  when  a  swindler  means  to  cheat  you, 
With  vast  civility  he'll  treat  you, 
In  all  his  intercourse  pretends 
To  be  your  very  best  of  friends. 

Such  friendship  Joab  erst  employ 'd, 
When  his  friend  Abner  hedecoy'd, 
And  Judas  such  a  friend  as  this, 
Betray 'd  his  master  with  a  kiss. 

Now  these  Pat-Ryots  join  as  one88 
To  thwart  the  plans  of  Washington, 
And  puff  th'  immaculate  Thomas  Jefferson 
As  Freedom's  only  great  and  clever  son. 

88  Now  these  Pat-Ryots  join  as  one. 

Dean  Swift,  in  some  of  his  writings,  informs  us, 
that  the  word  Patriot,  originated  from  one  Pat-Ry- 
ot, a  turbulent  Irishman  who  was  hung  for  rebel- 
lion, and  as  we  are  particularly  fond  of  etymologi- 
cal deduction  we  have  here  restored  the  word  to 
its  original  orthography. 

M2 


126  MOBOCRACY. 

Yes....AVashington  our  pride  and  glory, 
Vile  demos  dubb'd  a  British  tory," 
And  Duane  undertook  to  blast  him, 
And  prove  no  Nero  e'er  surpass'd  him  ! 

With  bug-bear  phantoms  to  alarm  us 
They  conjure  up  huge  standing  armies, 
With  which,  and  Washington  to  lead  'em, 
The  feds  would  bayonet  our  freedom.8* 

89  Vile  demos  dubb'd  a  British  tory. 

It  is  fresh  in  the  recollection  of  every  person,  who 
is  in  the  smallest  degree  acquainted  with  the  po- 
litical history  of  the  United  States,  that  Washing- 
ton did  not  escape  the  abuse  of  the  faction  now  in 
power.  He  was  said  to  have  been  partial  to  Bri- 
tish interests,  and  reviled  in  the  most  unqualified 
terms,  by  the  Aurora  patriots. 

90  The  feds  would  bayonet  our  freedom. 

No  measure,  of  the  federal  administration,  has 
called  forth  more  abuse  from  their  political  op- 
ponents, than  the  raising  of  a  standing  army. 
But  many  who  reprobate  that  step,  and  sup- 
pose that  it  led  to  that  step  in  deep  designs  of  domi- 
nation, may,  perhaps,  be  convinced  that  the  motives 
from  which  u  originated  were  pure,  when  they  per- 
use the  following  letter  from  our  beloved  and  im- 


MOBOCRACY.  172 

Adams  they  styl'd  a  hoary  traitor,*1 
Pickering  a  public  defalcator, 

mortal  chief,  by  which  he  signified  his  acceptance 
of  the  command  of  this  army,  which,  say  the  De- 
mocrats, was  destined  to  destroy  our  liberties. 


Mount-Vernont  July  13,  1798. 

"   DEAR    SIR, 

"  I  had  the  honor,  on  the  evening  of  the  1 1th  in- 
stzmt,  to  receive  from  the  hand  of  the  secretary  of 
war,  your  favour  of  the  7th,  announcing  that  you 
had,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  ap- 
pointed me  u  Lieutenant-General,  and  Commander 
in  Chief  of  all  the  armies  raised,  or  to  be  raised, 
for  the  service  of  the  United  States." 

"  I  cannot  express  how  greatly  affected  I  am  at 
this  new  proof  of  public  confidence,  and  the  highly 
flattering  manner  in  which  you  have  been  pleased 
to  make  the  communication.  At  the  same  time,  I 
must  not  conceal  from  you  my  earnest  wish  that 
the  choice  had  fallen  on  a  man,  less  declined  in 
years,  and  better  qualified  to  encounter  the  usual 
vicissitudes  of  war. 

"  You  know,  sir,  what  calculation  I  had  made, 
relative  to  the  probable  course  of  events,  on  my  re- 
tiring from  officei  *nd  the  determination  I  had  con- 
soled myself  with,  of  closing  the  remnant  of  my 
days  in  my  present  peaceful  abode  ;  you  will  there- 
fore be  at  no  loss  to  conceive  and  appieciate  the  sen- 
sation I  muit  have  experienced,  to  bring  myself  to 


128  MOBOCRACY. 

And  that  with  other  mischief  done,  he 
Had  stolen  all  our  public  money. 

any  conclusion  that  would  pledge  me,  at  so  late  a 
period  of  my  life,  to  leave  scenes  I  sincerely  love,  to 
enter  upon  the  boundless  field  of  action,  incessant 
trouble,  and  high  responsibility. 

"  It  is  not  possible  for  me  to  remain  ignorant  of, 
or  indifferent  to  recent  transactions. 

'<  The  conduct  of  the  directory  of  France  towards 
our  country ;  their  insidious  hostility  to  its  govern- 
ment ;  their  various  firactices  to  withdraw  the  affec- 
tions of  the  people  from  it ;  the  evident  tendency  of 
their  acts,  and  those  of  their  agents,  to  countenance 
and  invigorate  opposition  ;  their  disregard  of  solemn 
treaties  and  laws  of  nations  ;  their  war  upon  our  de- 
fenceless commerce  ;  their  treatment  of  our  ministers 
of  peace  ;  and  their  demands,  amounting  to  tribute, 
could  not  fail  to  excite  in  me  corresponding  senti- 
ments with  those  my  countrymen  have  so  generally 
expressed  in  their  affectionate  addresses  to  you. 
Believe  me,  sir,  no  one  can  more  cordially  approve 
of  the  wise  and  prudent  measures  of  your  administra- 
tion. They  ought  to  inspire  universal  confidence  ; 
and  will  no  doubt,  combined  with  the  state  of 
things,  call  from  Congress  such  laws  and  means, 
as  will  enable  you  to  meet  the  full  extent  of  the 
crisis. 

"  Satisfied  therefore  that  you  have  sincerely  wished 
and  endeavoured  to  avert  war,  and  exhausted  "t'j  the 
last  drop.)  the  cufi  of  reconciliation,  we  can  with 


MOBOCRACY.  129 

We  might  proceed  through  reams  on  reams 
To  set  forth  democratic  schemes, 

pure  hearts  appeal  to  Heaven  for  the  justice  of 
our  cause,  and  may  confidently  trust  the  final  re- 
sult to  that  kind  Providence,  who  has  heretofore, 
and  so  often,  signally  favoured  the  people  of  the 
United  States. 

"  Thinking  in  this  manner,  and  feeling  how  in- 
cumbent it  is  upon  every  person,  of  every  descrip- 
tion, to  contribute  at  all  times  to  his  country's  wel- 
fare, especially  in  a  moment  like  the  present,  when 
every  thing  we  hold  dear  and  sacred,  ia  so  seriously 
threatened  ;  I  have  finally  determined  to  accept  the 
commission  of  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  armies 
of  the  United  States,  with  this  reserve  only,  that  I 
shall  not  be  called  into  the  field  until  the  army 
is  in  a  situation  to  require  my  presence,  or  it  be- 
comes indispensible  by  the  urgency  of  circum- 
stances. 

"  In  making  this  reservation,  I  beg  it  may  be 
understood,  that  I  do  not  mean  to  withhold  any  as- 
sistance to  arrange  and  organize  the  army,  which 
you  think  I  can  afford.  I  take  the  liberty  also  to 
mention,  that  I  must  decline  having  my  acceptance 
considered  as  drawing  after  it  any  immediate  charge 
upon  the  public ;  or  that  I  can  receive  any  emolu- 
ments annexed  to  the  appointment,  before  enter- 
ing into  a  situation  to  incur  expense. 

"  The  Secretary  of  War  being  anxious  to  return 


130  MOBOCRACY. 

Their  midnight  caucusses  declare, 

To  she  w  what  precious  rogues  they  are. 

to  the  seat  of  government,  I  have  detained   him 
no  longer  than   was   necessary  to  a  full  commu- 
nication upon  the  several  points  he  had  in  charge. 
"  With  great  respect  and  consideration, 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  dear  sir, 
your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 
GEORGE  WASHINGTON." 

01  Adams  they  styl'd  a  hoary  traitor. 

The  infamous  Callender,  a  tool  and  hireling  of 
Mr.  Jefferson,  thus  expresses  himself  in  "  The 
Prospect  Before  Us  :" 

"  This  hoary-headed  incendiary  (Mams)  bawls 
out,  to  arms !"  "  Alas,  he  is  not  an  object  of  envy, 
but  of  compassion  and... .of  horror  !"  Again,  "  JOHN 
ADAMS. ...that  scourge,  that  scorn,  that  outcast  of 
America." 

u  We  have  been  governed  by  one  of  the  most 
execrable  of  all  SCOUNDRELS.  He  is,  in  private 
life,  one  of  the  most  egregious  fools  on  the  conti- 
nent." 

"  He  (the  future  historian)  will  inquire  by  what 
species  of  madness,  America  submitted  to  accept 
as  her  President,  a  person  without  abilities,  and 
tvithout  -virtue  ;  being  alike  incapable  of  attaching 
either  tenderness  or  esteem,"  8cc. 


MOBOCRACY.  131 

Our  pithy  poem  might  enamel 
By  telling  how  they  brib'd  one  Campbell, 
( Which  tale,  O  Gallatin,  would  pleasure, ye) 
To  steal  the  books  from  public  Treasury. 

How  Duane,  Gallatin,  and  Smilie, 
And  other  rogues  in  Co.  went  slily, 
And  drudg'd  all  night  to  ruin  Pickering 
And  furnish  documents  for  bickering. 

But  since  our  poem  is  a  peg, 
On  which  to  hang  our  notes,9    we  beg, 
This  midnight  matter  to  disclose 
Without  a  trope,  in  simple  prose.93 

92  But  since  our  poem  is  a  peg, 
On  which  to  hang  our  notes 

Democrats  have  so  declared,  but  as  the  author 
of  the  Pursuits  of  Literature  and  some  other  writers 
of  eminence  are  involved  in  a  similar  charge,  we 
shall  not  attempt  to  refute  the  accusation,  but  plead 
the  custom  of  authors  in  the  Court  of  Criticism  in 
our  own  justification. 

»3  Without  a  trope,  in  simple  prose. 

Among  other  malicious  manoeuvres  of  the  fac- 
tion, who  have  supplanted  the  friends  and  followers 
of  Washington,  may  be  numberedthe  mean  attempt 


t32  MOBOCRACY. 

Although  in  any  foreign  land, 

Such  folks  as  these  are  hung  off  hand, 

to  stigmatize  Col.  Pickering,  by  corrupting  a  clerk 
in  one  of  the  public  offices.  Anthony  Campbell, 
the  tool  of  the  party  on  this  occasion,  was  in  180O 
a  recording  clerk  in  the  office  of  the  Auditor  of 
the  Treasury,  all  accounts  having  been  previous- 
ly audited  and  examined  by  the  principal  clerk,  were 
registered  in  the  books  then  entrusted  to  Campbell. 
The  monies  drawn  by  the  Secretary  of  State  were 
charged  to  him  in  those  books,  but  the  credits  for 
the  application  not  entered  till  vouchers  were 
produced  of  the  manner  in  which  the  sums 
were  disbursed.  Months  and  sometimes  years  ne- 
cessarily expired  before  vouchers  and  receipts  rela- 
tive to  the  expenditures  of  money  destined  to  the 
payment  of  our  Ambassadors,  and  other  public  pur- 
poses in  Europe,  could  be  procured  from  the  per- 
sons to  whom  they  were  transmitted. 

•  Campbell  informed  some  of  the  dee/i  ones  among 
the  democrats,  that  the  books  of  his  department 
exhibited  a  large  unexpended  balance  in  the  hands 
of  Mr.  Pickering.  Campbell,  together  with  one 
Gardner,\vas  prevailed  upon  to  become  an  instrument 
in  the  hands  of  the  faction,  and  give  Colonel  Pick- 
ering's political  opponents  a  view  of  the  books.  For 
this  purpose  under  the  pretext  of  personal  accom- 
modation he  obtained  leave  to  sleep  in  the  office. 
A  meeting  of  pure  patriots  was  held  at  Israel  Is- 
rael's, corner  of  Third  and  Chesnut  streets,  Phila- 


MOBOCRACY.  133 

Yet  we,  a  free  and  happy  nation, 
Reward  the  rogues  with  public  station. 

delphia,  among  whom  were  Gallatin,  Smilie,  Duane, 
and  some  others  amounting  to  eight  or  ten.  The 
books  of  the  Treasury  were  taken  by  night  to  Is- 
rael's, the  account:,  afterwards  published  in  the  Au- 
rora transcribed  by  these  scriveners,  and  the  books 
returned  before  day  light. 

The  remarks  which  appeared  in  the  Washington 
Federalist  of  April  21,  1802,  accompanying  a  de- 
velopement  of  this  dark  transaction,  are  so  pertinent 
to  the  subject  that  we  cannot  resist  the  temptation 
of  transcribing  them, 

"  Can  it  be  supposed  that  Gallatin,  and  many 
others,  when  they  examined  these  accounts  did  not 
know  the'--  unsettK-d  state,  and  the  imperfect  view 
which  they  ;>y.ve  of  the  disbursement  of  the  public 
money  r  A  •'!  when  Mr.  \V  u'.cott  in  his  letter  dated 
23d  day  <:f  June  1800,  in  answer  to  the  charge  in  the 
Amor.-\.  explained  the  nature  of  these  accounts. 
.my  one  have  doubled  a  moment  that  the 
statements  so  published  were  imperfect  ?  And  yet 
we  find  the  Aurora  with  matchless  impudence  re- 
;  ;g  those  charge's.  Towards  Campbell  we  feel 
p.  and  contempt,  that  he  should  so  far  forget 
his  duty  as  to  violate  the  most  sacred  obligations 
of  honor  and  perjure  himself  to  become  the  tool  of 
a  party.  But  what  emotions  does  the  conduct  of 
those  excite  who  instigated  him  to  such  infamous 
practices,  who  could  not  only  resort  to  means  so 

N 


1J4  MO  HOC  RACY. 

Now  Hamilton  is  represented 

As  having  wicked  schemes  invented, 

base  to  obtain  those  documents,  but  likewise  employ 
them  in  the  manner  they  did,  knowing  them  to  b'e 
imperfect.  If  they  were  convinced  that  the  charges 
were  just,  why  did  they  not  at  once  bring  forward 
an  impeachment  against  Mr.  Pickering,  or  appoint 
a  committee  to  examine  into  his  accounts  ?  Be- 
cause they  knew  the  result  would  be  what  every 
subsequent  investigation  has  been,  a  fair  and  hon- 
orable acquittal They  knew  what  an  effect  a  bold 

publication  of  it  would  have  on  the  honest  and  un- 
suspecting yeomanry  ;  men  brought  up  in  the  sim- 
ple manners  of  the  country,  unpractised  in  intrigue 
and  unacquainted  with  the  depravity  of  human  na- 
ture." 

Gardner  the  accomplice  of  Campbell  in  this  un- 
derhanded transaction,  was  rewarded  by  being  ap- 
pointed consul  to  Demarara.  Campbell  attempted1 
to  take  advantage  of  his  treachery,  but  Gallatin 
was  too  cunning  for  him,  and  he  received  nothing, 
till  threatening  a  disclosure  of  the  whole  affair,  an 
ensigncy  at  length  stopped  his  mouth. 

A  committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
•was  afterwards  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  exam- 
ing  the  account  of  the  late  secretaries  ;  consisting 
of  Messrs.  Nicholas,  Nicholson,  Stone,  Otis,  Gris- 
•wold,  Wain,  and  Craik,  the  three  first  of  whom, 
were  democrats. 
This  committee,  after  a  laborious  scrutiny,  by  Ihtir 


MOBOCRACY.  135 

By  dint  of  which,  with  sudden  start  he 
Would  make  himself-a  Buonaparte. 

report  entirely  exculpated  Mr.  Pickering  ;  and  Gal- 
latin  himself  acknowledged  that  "  the  whole  of  the 
money  received  by  Mr.  Pickering,  had  been  applied 
to  public  purposes.  It  likewise  appeared  that  Mr. 
Pickering  not  only  had  not  embezzled  one  single 
dollar  of  the  public  money,  but  that  he  had  saved 
to  the  United  States  14,588  dollars,  by  a  purchase 
of  bills  of  exchange  on  London,  which,  with  the  new 
sc/ioo/-conseience,  he  might  very  conveniently  have 
appropriated  to  his  own  use. 

Notwithstanding  such  was  the  purity  of  Picker- 
ing, the  venal  Aurora,  whose  unprincipled  editor 
has  done  much,  very  much  towards  clamouring 
down  every  man  of  merit  in  the  community,  pub- 
lished a  number  of  articles,  with  the  title  of  "  PUB- 
LIC PLUNDER,"  which  contributed  not  a  little  to 
the  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson  and  the  establishment 
of  Duane's  importance  as  an  editor.  In  one  of  these, 
Duane  asserted,  that  on  the  18th  of  April  1800,  Mr. 
Pickering  had  drawn  upon  the  treasury  for  .fifty 
thousand  dollars  ;  and  that  at  the  time  when  he 
drew  for  this  sum  he  had  in  his  hands  three  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  unaccounted  for.  Duane|Hke- 
wise  declared  that  Mr.  Pickering  held  in  his  hands 
nearly  double  the  amount  of  both  these  sums,  in- 
timating that  he  then  was  delinquent  in  the  enor- 
mous sum  of  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

This  is  o'ic   instance,  among  the  many  whit'- 


136  MOBOCRACY. 

Not  even  the  shelter  of  the  grave 
From  democratic  spite  could  save 
This  man,  most  worthy  admiration, 
An  honor  to  his  age  and  nation.94 

might  be  adduced,  proving  the  base  means  to 
which  certain  men  have  resorted,  for  the  purpose  of 
tarnishing  the  reputation  of  those  heroes  and 
statesmen  to  whose  exertions  we  are  chiefly  indebt- 
ed for  our  national  prosperity.  The  falsehoods  by 
which  democrats  have  achieved  the  purpose  of  ele- 
vating themselves,  and  disgracing  the  nation,  are 
thrown  aside  as  soon  as  by  their  instrumentality 
these  precious  objects  are  attained.  Thus  it  was 
said  that  the  war  office  buildings  were  purposely 
set  on  fire  by  Mr.  Wolcott.  Thus  Hamilton  and 
M'Henry,  with  a  number  of  other  federal  patriots, 
have  been  accused  of  peculation  and  other  crimes, 
by  their  political  adversaries,  but  not  a  single  proof 
of  improper  conduct  in  office,  has  ever  been  ad- 
duced. The  effect  of  these  falsehoods,  however, 
has  been  to  stigmatize  their  characters  in  the  opin- 
ion of  many  of  their  fellow-citizens,  and  to  put  a 
period  to  their  political  existence.  If  such  are  to  be 
the  rewards  of  patriotism  in  America,  it  is  to  be  fear- 
cdt  it  ivill  soon  be  a  plant  of  rare  growth. 

94  An  honor  to  his  age  and  nation. 

The  untimely  fall  of  Gen.  Hamilton  excites  emo- 
tions, which  we  shall  not  attempt  in  this  place  to 
express.  Few  writers  are  equal  to  the  task  of  pour- 


MOBOCRACY.  1*7 

The  blustering  old  dominion  frets 
Because  she  has  to  pay  her  debts, 

traying  in  just  colours,  the  character  of  that  gre«t 
man,  and  we  cannot  forbear  enteringour  critical  caveat 
against  the  style  and  manner  of  some  of  the  eulo- 
gies which  we  have  seen  in  commemoration  of  his 
untimely  decease.  In  many  of  these  productions 
we  have  observed  a  strained-elevation,  a  redundancy 
of  rhetorical  flourishes,  which  appear  rather  to 
emanate  from  an  ambition  to  display  the  talents 
of  the  orator,  than  from  feelings  of  affection  for 
the  deceased,  or  a  wish  to  commemorate  his  virtues. 
The  expressions  of  grief  are  simply  pathetic.  The 
fancy  never  makes  wild  excursions,  when  the  heart 
is  wrung  with  anguish.  The  eulogies,  however,  of 
Messrs.  Morris,  Otis,  and  some  few  others,  are  pure 
and  correct;  the  effusions  of  genius,  chastened  by 
jugdment  andtaste.  From  thelatttrof  these  perform- 
ances, I  am  happy  to  present  the  following  extract, 
as  it  is  happily  illustrative  of  that  magnanimity  and 
greatness  of  soul,  which  distinguishes  the  real  hero, 
from  the  bold  and  aspiring  demagogue. 

"  The  principles  professed  by  the  first  leaders  of 
that  (the  French)  revolution,  were  so  congenial  to 
those  of  the  American  people  ;  their  pretences  of 
aiming  merely  at  the  reformation  of  abuses  were 
so  plausible  ;  the  spectacle  of  a  great  people  strug- 
gling to  recover  their  "  long-lost  liberties"  was  so 
imposing  and  august  ;  while  that  of  a  combination 
•  of  tyrants  to  conquer  and  subjugate,  was  so  revolt- 
N  2 


138  MOBOCRACY. 

Her  Nabobs  join  in  grand  committee, 
To  "  kick  to  hell  the  British  treaty. V9S 

ing  ;  the  services  received  from  one  of  the  belliger- 
ent powers,  and  the  injuries  inflicted  by  the  other, 
were 'so  recent  in  our  minds,  that  the  sensibility  of 
the  nation  was  excited  to  the  most  exquisite  pitch. 
To  this  disposition,  so  favourable  to  the  wishes  of 
France,  every  appeal  was  made,  which  intrigue, 
corruption,  flattery,  and  threats  could  dictate.  At 
this  dangerous  and  dazzling  crisis,  there  were  but 
few  men  entirely  exempt  from  the  general  delirium. 
Among  the  few  was  HAMILTON.  His  penetrating 
eye  discerned,  and  his  prophetic  voice  foretold,  the 
tendency  and  consequence  of  the  first  revolutionary 
movements.  He  was  assured  that  every  people 
which  should  espouse  the  cause  of  France  would 
pass  under  her  yoke,  and  that  the  people  of  France, 
like  every  nation  which  surrenders  its  reason  to  the 
mercy  of  demagogues,  would  be  driven  by  the 
.storms  of  anarchy  upon  the  shores  of  despotism. 
All  this  he  knew  was  conformable  to  the  invariable 
law  of  nature  and  experience  of  mankind.  From 
the  reach  of  this  desolation  he  was  anxious  to  save 
his  country,  and  in  the  pursuit  of  his  purpose,  he 
breasted  the  assaults  of  calumny  and  prejudice. 
"  The  torrent  roared,  and  he  did  buffet  it."  Ap- 
preciating the  advantages  of  a  neutral  position,  he 
co-operated  with  WASHINGTON,  ADAMS,  and  the 
other  patriots  of  that  day5  in  the  means  best  adapt- 
ed to  maintain  it.  The  rights  and  duties  of  neCt- 


MOBOCRACY.  139 

The  funding  system,  tax  on  land, 
"Were  first  piopos'd  by  Giles's  band,96 

trality  proclaimed  by  the  president,  were  explained 
and  enforced  by  HAMILTON  in  the  character  of 
Pacificus.  The  attempts  to  corrupt  and  intimidate 
were  resisted.  The  British  treaty  was  justified 
and  defended  as  an  honorable  compact  with  our 
natural  friends,  and  pregnant  with  advantages, 
which  have  since  been  realized  and  acknowledged 
by  its  opponents. 

"  By  this  pacific  and  vigorous  policy,  in  the 
whole  course  of  which  the  genius  and  activity  of 
HAMILTON  were  conspicuous,  time  and  information 
were  afforded  to  the  American  nation,  and  correct 
views  were  acquired  of  our  situation  and  interests. 
We  beheld  the  republics  of  Europe,  march  in  pro- 
cession to  the  funeral  of  their  own  liberties  by 
the  lurid  light  of  the  revolutionary  torch.  The 
tumult  of  the  passions  subsided,  the  wisdom  of  the 
administration  was  perceived,  and  America  now 
remains  a  solitary  monument  in  the  desolated  plains 
of  liberty. 

"  Having  remained  at  the  head  of  the  treasury 
several  years,  and  filled  its  coffers ;  having  deve- 
loped the  sources  of  ample  revenue,  and  tested  the 
advantages  of  his  own  system  by  his  own  experience; 
and  having  expended  his  private  fortune;  he  found  it 
necessary  to  retire  from  public  employment,  and  to 
devote  his  attention  to  the  claims  of  a  large  and  dear 
family.  Whatbrighter  instanceof  disinterested  honor 


140  MOBOCRACY. 

Who  swore  that  duties  raised  from  commerce 
But  slily  filch'd  our  money  from  us. 

has  ever  been  exhibited  to  an  admiring  world  !  That 
a  man,  upon  whom  devolved  the  task  of  originating 
a  system  of  revenue  for  a  nation  ;  of  devising  the 
checks  in  his  own  department ;  to  provide  for  the 
collections  of  sums,  the  amount  of  which  was  con- 
jectural ;  that  a  man,  who  anticipated  the  effects  of 
a  funding  system,  yet  a  secret  in  his  own  bosom, 
and  who  was  thus  enabled  to  have  secured  a  prince- 
ly fortune,  consistently  with  principles  esteemed 
fair  by  the  world  ;  tkat  such  a  man  by  no  means  ad- 
dicted to  an  expensive  or  extravagant  style  of  liv- 
ing, should  have  retired  from  an  office  destitute  of 
means  adequate  to  the  wants  of  mediocrity,  and  have 
resorted  to  professional  labour  for  the  means  of  de- 
cent support,  are  facts  which  must  instruct  and  as- 
tonish those,  who,  in  countries  habituated  to  cor- 
ruption and  venality  are  more  attentive  to  the  gains 
than  to  the  duties  of  an  official  station Yet  HAM- 
ILTON was  that  man.  It  was  a  fact  always  known 
to  his  friends,  and  it  is  now  evident  from  his  testa- 
ment, made  under  a  deep  presentiment  of  his  ap- 
proaching fate.  Bkjsh  then,  ministers  and  warriors 
of  imperial  France,  who  have. deluded  'your  nation 
by  pretensions  to  a  disinterested  regard  for  its  lib- 
erties and  rights  !  Disgorge  the  riches  extorted 
from  your  fellow-citizens,  and  the  spoil?  amassed 
from  confiscation  and  blood  !  Restore  to  the  impnv- 
-erished  nation  the  price  paid  fcy  them  for  the  privi- 


MOBOCRACY.  141 

The  funds  created,  taxes  laid, 

The  measures  by  the  imps  are  made 

lege  of  slavery,  and  now  appropriated  to  the  refine- 
ment of  luxury  !  Approach  the  tomb  of  HAMIL- 
TON, and  compare  the  insignificance  of  your  gor- 
geous palaces  with  the  awful  majesty  of  this  tene- 
ment of  clay  ! 

"  We  again  accompany  our  friend  in  the  walks  of 
private  life,  and  in  the  assiduous  pursuit  of  his  pro- 
fession, until  the  aggressions  of  France  compelled 
the  nation  to  assume  the  attitude  of  defence.  He 
was  now  invited  by  the  great  and  enlightened  states- 
man who  had  succeeded  to  the  presidency,  and  at 
the  express  request  of  the  Commander  in  Chief, 
to  accept  of  the  second  rank  in  the  army.  Though 
no  man  had  manifested  a  greater  desire  to  avoid 
war,  yet  it  is  freely  confessed  that  when  war  ap- 
peared to  be  inevitable,  his  heart  exulted  in  "the 
tented  field,"  and  he  loved  the  life  and  occupation 
of  a  soldier.  His  early  habits  were  formed  amid 
the  fascinations  of  the  camp.  And  though  the  pa- 
cific policy  of  ADAMS  once  more  rescued  us  from 
war,  and  shortened  the  existence  of  the  army  estab- 
lishment, yet  its  duration  was  sufficient  to  secure 
to  him  the  love  and  confidence  of  officers  and  men, 
to  enable  him  to  display  the  talents  and  qualities 
of  a  great  general,  and  to  justify  the  most  favour- 
able prognostics  of  his  prowess  in  the  field. 

"  Once   more    this  excellent  man  unloosed   the  • 
helmet  from  his  brow,  and  returned  to  the  duties  of 


142  MOBOCRACY. 

A  handle,  plausible  no  doubt, 
To  turn  the  Washingtonians  out. 

the  forum.  From  this  time  he  persisted  in  a  firm 
resolution  to  decline  all  civil  honors  and  promo- 
tion, and  to  live  a  private  citizen,  unless  again  sum- 
xnoned  to  the  defence  of  his  country.  He  became 
•more  than  ever  assiduous  in  his  practice  at  the  bar, 
and  intent  upon  his  plans  of  domestic  happiness, 
until  a  nice  and  mistaken  estimate  of  the  claims  of 
honor,  impelled  him  to  the  fatal  act  which  ter- 
minated his  life." 

Since  quoting  the  abov.e  I  have  perused  the  ora- 
tion of  J.  M.  Mason,  D.  D.  commemorative  of  the 
virtues  and  talents  of  this  illustrious  man.  It  is  a 
splendid  effort  of  genius  which  would  have  done  cre- 
dit to  the  pen  of  a  Burke,  and  appears  to  have  been 
inspired  by  a  spirit  akin  to  that  of  the  hero  it  cele- 
brates. We  should  think  the  style  of  the  eulogy 
somewhat  too  highly  encomiastic,  were  not  the  sub- 
ject a  Hamilton  ;  but  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  em- 
ploy too  bold  a  pencil  in  giving  characteristic 
scketches  of  such  a  man. 

Some  traits  of  General  Hamilton,  published  in  the 
Boston  Repertory,  and  said  to  have  been  drawn  up  by 
the  Hon.  Fisher  Ames,  are  eminently  beautiful.  The 
pencil  of  S.  Cullen  Carpenter,  editor  of  the  Charles- 
ton Courier,  whose  literary  productions  have  acquir- 
ed him  a  highly  deserved  celebrity,  has  potirtrayed, 
in  letters  of  light,  the  principal  features  in  this  most 
distinguished  character ;  indeed  the  portrait  of 


MOBOCRACY. 

And  now  the  lying  varlets  tell  us 
Wolcott  and  Dexter  were  such  fellows, 

Hamilton,  as  drawn  by  the  hands  of  the  writers  we 
have  mentioned,  ought  to  be  in  the  possession  of 
every  American  of  taste  and  sensibility.* 

The  incessant  torrents  of  calumny,  which  have 
been  poured  on  that  truly  great  man,  since  the  fa- 
tal rencontre  which  terminated  his  existence,  ex- 
hibits a  lamentable  proof  of  democratic  depravity. 
The  conduct  of  a  Chronicle  scribbler  in  Boston  in 
particular  (said  to  be  the  late  candidate  for  governor > 
Mr.  Sullivan)  has  often  called  to  our  recollection 
the  following  lines  from  Churchill  : 

"  Should  love  of  fame,  in  every  noble  mind 
A  brave  disease,  with  love  of  virtue  join'd, 
Spur  thee  to  deeds  of  pith,  where  courage  try'd 
In  reason's  court  is  amply  justified  ; 
Or  fond  of  knowledge,  and  averse  to  strife, 
Shouldst  thou  prefer  the  calmer  walks  of  life  ; 
Shouldst  thou  by  pale  and  sickly  study  led, 
Pursue  coy  science  to  the  fountain  head  ; 
Virtue  thy  guide,  and  public  good  thy  end, 
Should  every  thought  to  our  improvement  tend, 
To  curb  the  passions,  to  enlarge  the  mind, 
Purge  the  sick  weal  and  humanize  mankind  ; 
Rage  in  her  eye  and  malice  in  her  breast, 
Redoubled  horror  grinning  on  her  crest, 

*  We  would  refer  our  readers  to  «'  A  Collection  of 
facts  and  Documents  relative  to  the  death  of  Gen. 
Hamilton,"  by  the  editor  of  the  Evening  Post. 


144  MOBOCRACY. 

To  carry  peculation's  farce  on 

They  'dcrown'd  their  robberies  with  arson.97 

Fiercer  each  snake,  and  sharper  every  dart, 
Quick  from  her  cell  shall  madening  envy  start : 
Then  shah  them  find,  but  find,  alas  !  too  late, 
How  vain  is  worth  !  how  short  is  glory's  date  ! 
Then  shalt  thou  find,  when  friends  with  foes  con- 
To  give  more  proof  than  virtue  would  desire,  (spire 
Thy  danger  chiefly  lies  in  acting  well ; 
No  crime's  so  great  as  daring  to  excell." 

»5  To  "  kick  to  hell  the  British  treaty." 

We  have  here  adorned  our  poetry  with  a  very 
judicious  rhetorical  flourish,  quoted  from  the  decla- 
rations of  the  dashing  nabobs  of  the  south,  who 
first  signalized  themselves  by  their  opposition  to 
that  instrument.  The  virulent,  and  unqualified 
abuse,  which  has  been  heaped  upon  General  Wash- 
ington, Mr.  Jay,  and  the  whole  federal  party  for 
having  given  origin  to  a  treaty,  which  in  all  proba- 
bility prevented  our  participating  in  the  crimes  and 
horrors  of  the  French  revolution,  is  scarcely  to  be 
paralleled  in  the  annals  of  political  contests.  Noth- 
ing short  of  the  prudence  of  a  Washington  could 
have  stemmed  the  tide  of  democratic  depravity  on 
this  occasion.  None,  however,  of  the  evils  antici- 
pated from  this  deprecated  treaty  have  taken  place, 
and  it  is  abundantly  manifest  on  investigating  the 
causes  of  Virginian  virulence  that  self  interest  w.is 
the  real  motive  of  the  ddudcra  in  exciting  thrs  alarm- 


MOBOCRACY.  145 

Now  swells  each  Jacobinic  throat 
With  dreadful,  boding,  screech-owl  note, 

It  appears  that  the  claims  of  British  creditors 
against  Virginia,  only  as  exhibited  by  their  com- 
missioners, appointed  under  the  6th  article  of  Mr. 
Jay's  treaty,  amounted  to  8,500,000  dollars,  but 
those  against  the  whole  of  the  New-England  states 
were  but  a  little  rising  of  100,000  dollars.  These 
claims,  although  not  positive  evidences  of  debts  due 
to  their  whole  amount,  yet  furnish  a  clue  for  a  pro- 
portional estimate  of  the  debts  due  from  Virginia, 
and  from  the  New-England  states. 

No  doubt  the  easiest  way  for  Virginia  to  pay 
this  debt  was,  to  use  the  expressions  of  some  of 
their  leaders  to  "  kick  the  treaty  to  h....ll."  This 
they  might  do,  in  the  course  of  their  proceedings 
without  going  out  of  their  way. 

It  ought  not,  however,  to  be  forgotten  that  this 
obnoxious  treaty,  and  the  hostilities  committed  by 
England  on  our  commerce  in  the  year  1793,  tvcre  the 
consequence  of  Firgmia  delinquency  and  aggression. 
The  legislature  of  Virginia,  in  October  1783,  passed 
an  act  to  absolve  British  debtors  from  the  payment  of 
money,  even  after  their  debts  had  been  ascertained 
by  judgments  in  courts  of  law.  On  the  other 
hand  the  British  refused  to  relinquish  the  possession 
of  the  northern  posts.  In  December  1787,  in  con- 
sequence of  an  earnest  requisition  of  congress  the 
assembly  of  Virginia  passed  an  act  apparently  to 
repeal  all  such  acts  cf  that  state  as  had  prevented, 
o 


U6  MOBOCRACY. 

And  democrats  are  choak'd  with  sobbings, 
Because  the  British  hung  one  Robbins.98 

or  might  prevent  the  recovery  of  debts  due  to 
British  subjects,  according  to  the  true  intent  of  the 
treaty.  But  took  care  in  a  proviso  to  this  act  to 
suspend  the  repeal,  and  thereby  render  it  entirely 
null,  under  the  pretence  of  infractions  on  the  part 
of  the  British,  thus  arrogating  to  themselves  power, 
which  of  right  belonged  to  the  general  government, 
ana?  making  a  mere  farce  of  their  own  proceedings. 

The  English,  however,  not  being  disposed  to  re- 
lish this  kind  of  treatment,  appealed  to  their  ultiam 
ratio,  commenced  a  war  on  our  commerce,  and  thus 
collected  their  demands  by  virtue  of  the  authority 
of  their  cannon.  The  immense  losses  which  of 
consequence  fell  upon  the  merchants  of  the  eastern 
and  middle  states  in  the  year  1793,  by  British  cap- 
tures, will  not  soon  be  forgotten. 

But  this  was  not  all.  Mr.  King  in  pursuance  of 
instructions  of  the  federal  administration,  negoci- 
ated  for  the  payment,  at  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States,  of  600,OOQ/.  sterling,  nearly  three  millions 
of  dollars,  for  losses  sustained  by  British  subjects, 
by  legal  impediments  to  prevent  the  collection  of 
their  demands  chiefly  against  these  Virginia  debtors. 

Thus  Virginian  delinquency  cost  the  United  States 
nearly  3,000,000  dollars,  subjected  us  to  those  de- 
predations on  our  commerce  in  1793,  by  which  the 
country  sustained  immense  losses,  and  laid  the  foun- 
dation for  Mr.  Jay's  treaty,  which  has  excited  SQ 


MOBOCRA.CY. 

To  hang  a  murderer  and  a  pirate 
Was  tyrainzing  at  a  high  rate, 

much  clamour  amoiv;  our  precious  patriots 
the  federal  administration. 

96  Were  first  propos'cl  by  Giles's  band. 


The  standing;  army,  the  funding  system,  and 
the  land  tax  have  each  furnished  most  fruitful  topics 
of  democratic  declamation,  and  the  party  in  power 
by  artfully  attaching  to  the  federalists  the  odium, 
which  the  mere  mention  oi'  these  bug-bear  mea- 
sures, has  never  failed  to  excite,  have  succeeded  in 
accomplishing  their  political  destruction,  We  have 
already  shown  on  vt  hat  occasion  the  army  was  rais- 
ed. The  funding  system,  the  theme  of  never  ceas- 
ing clamour,  from  those  who  have  uniformly  op- 
posed every  public  measure,  which  had  a  tendency 
to  promote  the  honor  and  happiness  of  our  country, 
met  the  unequivocal  approbation  of  one  of  the  great- 
est giants  of  the  dominant  faction.  Gallutin  in  his 
treatise  on  the  finances  of  the  United  States,  after 
finding  all  the  1'uult  he  decently  couid  \vilh  the  mea- 
sures of  the  federal  administration,  has  the  follow- 
ing remarks. 

"  Let  ft  not  be  supposed  that  any  of  tho-.e  reflec- 
tions are  intended  to  convey  any  censure  on  that 
part  of  the  funding  system,  which  provided  for  the 
payment  of  the  interest  of  the  proper  debt  of  the 
United  States.  They  are  designed  merely  to  show 


148  MOBOCRACV. 

Alarm 'd  the  gallows- dreading  clan, 

In  love  with  Tom  Pain's  "  Rights  of  Man." 

that  the  propriety  of  that  measure  must  depend 
solely  on  its  justice.  Whether  the  debt  had  been 
funded  on  the  plan  of  discrimination  in  favour  of 
the  original  holders,  or  those  who  had  performed 
the  services,  or,  as  has  been  the  case  in  favour  of 
the  purchasers  of  certificates,  the  general  effects 
would  have  been  nearly  the  same  ;  and  unless  the 
American  government  had  chosen  to  forfeit  every 
claim  to  common  honesty  it  must  necessarily  pro- 
vide for  discharging  the  principal,  or  paying  the 
interest  to  one  or  the  other  of  two  descriptions  of 
persona."* 

Jt  is  likewise  a  fact  that  the  land  tax  "  was  a 
measure  to  which  the  federalists  had  been  urged 
for  years  by  their  political  opponents  because  they 
foresaw  in  it  the  ruin  of  their  power."  See  Bay- 
ard's speech  on  the  Judiciary  Bill. 

87  They'd  crown'd  their  robberies  with  ar&on. 
It  cannot  be  forgotten  that  such  was  the  cry  of 

*  Here  is  displayed  a  little  of  this  gentleman's 
sort-  tf  cunning.  In  the  name  of  common  scrise  how 
ivas  it  possible  for  the  government  to  establish  a  fund 
in  favour  of  some  individuals,  who  might  hold  these 
securities  to  the  prejudice  cf  other  individuals,  iiho 
might  hold  the  tame  sort  cf  icciirilics.  Shall  a  firs- 


MOBCCRACY.  149 

Poor  Carleton  was  most  sadly  frighted, 
Felt  all  his  sympathies  excited.... 

the  demagogue  papers  from  one  end  of  the  United 
States  to  the  other.  A  committee,  however,  being 
appointed  to  enquire  into  the  causes  of  the  fires, 
these  gentlemen  were  honorably  exculpated,  and 
democrats  were  under  the  necessity  of  inventing 
new  falsehoods  to  answer  the  purposes  of  the  party. 
It  happened  very  providentially,  that  all  the  papers 
which  were  necessary  to  show  the  perfect  integrity, 
not  only  of  Mr.  Wolcott,  but  of  the  whole  Federal 
administration  in  fiscal  conce  rns,  were  saved. 

98  Because  the  British  hung  one  Robbins. 

The  lie  about  Robbins  the  British  pintle,  so  often 
affirmed  by  democrats  to  have  been  an  American 
citizen,  and  born  in  D anbury  in  Connecticut,  has 
been  repeated  times  without  number  by  the  demo- 
cratic newspapers. 

This  tale  was  propagated  with  an  intention  to 
throw  odium  on  Mr.  Adams  for  having  directed  the 
criminal  to  be  surrendered  to  justice.  It  appeal's 
that  his  letter  to  Judge  Bee,  anfl  which  has  been 
the  ground,  of  all  the  clamour  of  Robbins'  aymf.a- 

missory  note  fia.ya.ble  to  Jl.  or  bearer^  and  purchased 
by  B.  not  be  collected  by  the  latter,  because  he  fiaid 
less  t/mn  its  nominal  value,  and  run  the  risk  of  the 
failure  of  the  drawer  ? 

o  2 


150  MOBOCRACY. 

Was  very  properly  perplext 

Lest  his  o\vn  turn  might  be  the  next. 

In  grade  of  crimes  but  one  step  higher 
Had  brought  the  vile  recorded  liar," 

thizing  friends,  merely  directed  him  to  be  delivered 
up  if  firoved  to  be  a  British  subject  and  a  pirate 
and  a  murderer.  The  man  previous  to  his  execu- 
tion acknowledged  himself  to  be  a  British  subject, 
and  owned  that  the  sentence  by  which  he  suffered 
was  just.  Bat  Mr.  Carleton  would  not  agree  to  this. 
This  tender  hearted  gentleman,  editor  of  the  Salem 
Register,  and  his  brethren  in  iniquity,  declared  that 
Robbins  was  a  good  man,  and  an  American  citizen, 
and  Adams  a  tyrant,  who  had  been  instrumental  in 
his  destruction.  Indeed  it  is  not  very  marvellous 
that  a  good  democrat  should  feel  an  interest  in  the 
sufferings  of  one  whose  life  and  conversation  de- 
clared him  to  be  a  member  of  their  fraternity. 

«  Never  did  trusty  squire  with  knight 

Or  knight  with  squire  e'er  jump  more  right," 

HUDIBRAS, 

»«  Had  brought  the  vile  recorded  liar. 

Carleton  has  been  indicted,  found  guilty,  and 
punished  with  fine  and  imprisonment  for  publish- 
ing a  false  and  malicious  libel  on  Mr.  Pickering. 


MOBOCRACY.  15 1 

(Were  justice  done  in  such  a  case) 
To  Robbins,  alias  Nash's  place. 

Thus  theives  are  rarely  known  to  toast 
Their  enemy  the  whipping  post, 
And  felons  commonly  exhibit 
No  little  spleen  against  a  gibbet. 

Hence,  in  these  democratic  times, 
This  hanging  people  for  their  crimes 
Is  thought  a  most  obnoxious  thing, 
By  those  who  know  they  ought  to  swing. 

Now  common  decency  defying, 
They  ply  their  dirty  trade  of  lying, 
Hold  out  such  falsehoods,  in  terrorem, 
That  no  good  man  can  stand  before  'em. 

And  many  a  patriot's  forc'd  to  doff  his 
Old  fashioned  honesty  for  office, 
Become  a  supple,  and  time  serving 
Rasoal,  to  keep  himself  from  starving. 

Each  lie  they  tell,  though  ne'er  so  horrid  a 
Vile  gang  repeats  from  Maine  to  Florida, 
And  when  found  out  and  people  hiss  it 
In  sneaking  silence  they  dismiss  it. 


15,1  MOBOCRACY. 

No  cur  can  wag  his  tail  or  yelp 
But  what  puts  in  his  mickle  help, 
For  every  puppy  in  the  pack 
Is  taught  huYproper  scent  and  track. 

In  short  they  lied,  through  thick  and  thin, 
Till  Jefferson  at  last  came  in, 
And  made  fair  promises  in  plenty, 
Provided  he'd  kept  one  in  twenty. 

Yes. ...we  wereraptur'd  when  he  said 
We're  all  republicans  and  fed- 
Ral,  fellow  countrymen,  Americans,  [canes. 
And  hop'd  we'd  done  with  Factions  hurri- 

With  such  professions  all  were  suited 
But  soon  his  conduct  all  refuted, 
What  time  his  highness  made  a  shift 
To  send  our  staunchest  men  adrift. 

The  veteran  chiefs  of  seventy-six, 
If  by  sad  chance  their  politicks 
Displeas'd  the  Carter  Mountain  hero, 
He  persecuted  like  a  Nero  ;1W 

lflo  He  persecuted  like  a  Nero. 

I  do  not  mean  to  assert  that  Mr.  Jefferson  hung, 


MOBOCRACY.  153 

Humphrey  and  Putman,  Fish,  and  others, 
AVhom  Washington  esteem'd  as  brothers, 
Displaced  to  please  the  vilest  set 
That  ever  plagu'd  a  nation  yet. 

burnt,  or  guillotined  his  opponents.  But  perhaps 
the  means  by  which  the  federalists  have  been  "  op- 
pugnated,"  have  been  but  little  less  destructive  to 
the  sufferers,  and  but  little  more  honorable  on  the 
part  of  those  who  have  adopted  such  means.  Starv- 
ing a  man  and  his  family,  is  doubtless,  an  effectual 
method  of  dispatching  him. 

Most  of  the  federalists,  who  held  offices  under 
the  Washington  and  Adams  administrations,  had 
devoted  much  time  and  expense  to  qualify  them- 
selves for  such  offices,  and  in  many  instances  had 
relinquished  lucrative  professions  and  branches  of 
business,  that  they  might  the  better  perform  the 
duties  of  those  offices.  These  have  been  displaced 
for  young  and  ignorant  persons,  and  in  many  in- 
stances foreigners,  whose  sole  recommendation  has 
been  their  Jeffersonian  politics,  while  the  war-worn 
veteran  who  had  fought  the  battles  of  our  Inde- 
pendence, and  grown,  not  only  o/rf,  but  /ioor,  in  ac- 
tive services  for  his  country,  is  prohibited  from 
lasting  the  fruits  of  his  labours,  by  the  faction 
which  is  now  dominant,  and  seems  willing  "  to  owe 
their  greatness  to  their  country's  ruin." 

To  give  a  catalogue  of  all  the  worthies,  who  have 
adorned  Mr.  Jefferson's  Proscription  list,  would  be 
to  name  almost  every  honest  man  who  held  any 


154  MOBOCRACV. 

But  as  I  had  from  natal  hour 
Respect  for  great  men,  while  in  power, 
I  mean  right  merrily  to  chaunt  o- 
Ver  his  praise  in  my  next  canto. 

office  under  government,  at  the  time  Mr.  Jefferson 
was  elected. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  a  few,  who  were  remov- 
ed from  office,  for  no  other  reason  thaw  their  being 
obnoxious  on  account  of  tVeir  political  opinions  : 

John  Wilkes  Kittera,  Attorney  for  the  Eastern 
District,  Pennsylvania;  John  Hall,  Marshal  of  the 
same  District ;  Samuel  Hogdon,  Superintendant  of 
Public  Stores  at  Philadelphia  ;  John  Harris,  Store 
Keeper  at  the  same  place  ;  Henry  Miller,  Super- 
visor of  the  Revenue  of  the  District  of  Pennsylva- 
nia ;  J.  M.  Lingan,  Attorney  for  the  District  of 
Columbia  ;  Thomas  Iwan,  Attorney  ;  John  Pierce, 
Commissioner  of  Loans  for  the  State  of  Newhamp- 
shire  ;  Thomas  Martin,  Collector  of  the  District 
of  Portsmouth,  in  the  same  state  ;  Jacob  Sheaffe, 
Navy  Agent  at  Portsmouth  ;  Richard  Harrison, 
Attorney  for  the  District  of  New-York  ;  Aquila 
Giles,  Marshal  of  the  same  District  ;  James  Wat- 
son, Navy  Agent  for  New-York ;  Joshua  Sands, 
Collector  of  the  Port  of  New-York  ;  Nicholas  Fish, 
Supervisor  of  the  District  of  New-York  ;  William 
Smith,  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  the  Court  of 
Portugal  ;  William  Vans  Murray,  Minister  Resi- 
dent to  the  Batavian  Republic  ;  David  Humphreys, 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  the  Court  of  Madrid  i 


MOBOCRACY.  155 

Good  reader  these  are  merely  sketches 
Of  democratic  feats  and  fetches, 
Their  tricks,  to  which  no  honest  man 
Has  ever  stoop'd  nor  ever  can. 

Elizur  Goodrich,  Collector  of  New-Haven,  John 
Chester,  Supervisor  of  the  District  of  Connecti- 
cut ;  Ray  Greene,  Judge  of  Rhode-Island  District  ; 
Winthrop  Sargeant,  Governor  of  the  Missisippi 
Territory  ;  David  Hopkins,  Marshal  of  the  District 
of  Maryland  ;  Andrew  Bell,  Collector  of  the  Port  of 
Amboy  ;  Aaron  Dunham,  Supervisor  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  New-Jersey  ;  James  Dole,  Marshal  of  the 
District  of  Albany  ;  Robert  Hamilton,  Marshal  of 
the  District  of  Delaware  ;  Harrison  G.  Otis,  At- 
torney for  the  District  of  Massachusetts  ;  Chauncey 
Whittlesey,  Collector  of  Middletown,  Connecticut ; 
Amos  Marsh,  Attorney  for  the  District  of  Ver- 
mont ;  Jabez  Fitch,  Marshal  for  the  same  District ; 
Samuel  Bradford,  Marshal  of  the  District  of  Mas- 
sachusetts ;  Thomas  Perkins,  Commissioner  of 
Loans  for  the  State  of  Massachusetts  ;  cum  muftis 
aliiS)  all  good  men  and  true  ;  and  we  believe  that 
their  successors  in  office  have  been  men,  whose 
talents,  reputation,  or  pretensions  to  public  patron- 
age, could  in  no  way  entitle  them  to  take  the  pre- 
cedence of  the  geiitlemen  who  were  displaced,  had 
not  the  spirit  of  party  turned  the  "  world  upside 
down." 

Well  might  Mr.  Bayard  observe  of  such  manage- 
ment by  the  party  in  power  "  It  is  in  this  path  we 


156  MOBOCRACY. 

Thus  Weishaupt  erst  had  made  no  pother 
His  brat  to  poison,  and  its  mother, 
Lest  crimes  reveal'd  should  cause  a  schism 
With  founders  of  Illuminism. 

'Tvvould  cost  whole  Mexic  gulphs  of  rhyme, 
(To  deal  in  Crusca's  true  sublime,) 
Their  deeds  of  darkness  to  display 
And  drag  these  Cacusses  to  day.101 

see  the  real  victims  of  stern,  uncharitable,  unre- 
lenting power.  It  is  here,  we  see  THE  SOLDIER 

WHO  FOUGHT   THE   BATTLES   OF   THE   REVOLUTION  ; 

taho  sfiilt  his  blood)  and  wasted  his  strength  to  estab- 
lish the  Independence  of  his  country  ;  deprived  of  the 
reward  of  his  services,  and  left  to  pine  in  penury  and 
wretchedness.  Jt  is  along  this  path  that  you  may  see 
helpless  children  crying  J'or  bread,  and  gi  ay  hairs 
sinking  in  sorrow  to  the  grave  !  It  is  here  that  no 
innocence,  no  merit,  no  truth,  no  services  can  save  the 
•unhappy  sectary,  who  does  not  belicv?  in  the  creed  of 
those  in  power." 

W1  And  drag  these  Cacusses  to  day. 

In  order  to  please,  if  possible,  those  of  our  readers 
who  are  fond  of  the  "  mazes  of  metaphorical  con- 
fusion" we  have  here  jumbled  together  narrative 
and  metaphor  in  a  delightful  manner.  The  Cacus 
to  whom  we  allude  was  a  sturdy  democrat  who 


MOBOCRACT  l$7 

Although,  as  has  before  been  seen, 
The  federal  hands  were  ever  clean, 
Our  public  money  has  its  charms 
To  tickle  democratic  palms. 

Good  democrats  can't  live  on  brouse  and 
Take  therefore  now  and  then  a  thousand 
Of  public  cash,  and  make  amends 
By  being  "  We  the  People's"  friends. 

A  hundred  thousand,  it  is  said 
Was  pocketed  by  dashing  Ned,102 

stole  some  cattle  and  hid  them  in  a  cave,  (very  like  Mr 

Jefferson's.)     He  was  found  out  however  and  destroyed 

by  Hercules,  and 

Panditur  extemplo  foribus  domus  atra  revulsis; 

Abstractseque  boves,  abjurataeque  rapin;c 

Ccelo  ostendunlur;  pedibusque  informc  cadaver  — 

Protrahitur.-—  --  —  - 


.  viii.  L.  -62,  &C. 
102  Was  pocketed  by  dashing  Ned. 

Mr.  Harrison  was  displaced  from  the  oflice  of  District 

Attorney  for  having,  like  Washington,  Adams  and  otiier 

Antijacobins,  bi-cn  guilty  of  the  heinous  crimeol  K-u.- 

ralisin,  and  Ned  Livingstone  appointed  by  virtue  ot  his 

P 


*58  MOBOCRACT. 

And  patriot  Randolph  had  before 
With  fifty  thousand  run  a  shore.  103 

Had  these  been  Federal  men  no  doubt 
There'd  been  a  most  confounded  rout, 
TV  Aurora  fraught  with  Duane's  thunder 
Had  quick  aveng'd  such  "PUBLIC  PLUNDER." 

mighty  merits  as  a  democrat.  Mr.  Harrison,  the  obnoxi- 
ous federalist  discharged  the  duties  of  his  office,  as  his  poli- 
tical opponents  acknowledge,  with  ability  and  fidelity, 
and  was  never  even  suspected  of  having  applied  to  his 
own  use  the  people's  money.  But  Mr.  Ned  took  the  li- 
berty to  appropriate  to  his  own  private  purposes  the  trif- 
ling sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  as  appears  by 
a  judgment  obtained  against  him  in  the  District  Court  of 
the  United  States,  and  is  now  living  on  the  people's  mo- 
»ey,  in  a  stile  of  genuine  extravagance  at  New-Orleans. 
If  one  feels  a  disposition  to  be  a  rogue,  what  a  fine  affair 
ft  is  to  be  a  good  democrat ! 

103  With  fifty  thousand  run  ashore. 

It  is  very  remarkable  that  with  all  the  clamour  against 
Messrs.  Pickering  anil  Wolcott  for  pretended  defalcations, 
misappropriations  and  other  malconduct  in  office,  that 
our  good  democratic  committees,  &c.  should  be  so  care- 
ful to  forget  to  mention  the  deficiency  of  Mr.  patriot 
Randolph,  former  Secretary  of  State. 


MOBOCRACY.  159 

But  every  democrat  intends 
To  use  some  freedom  with  his  friends, 
And  if  contented  with  their  purse 
Let  them  be  thankful  'tis  no  worse. 

But  still  it  seemsthere's  something  hard  in't, 
When  federal  men,  with  zeal  most  ardent, 
Have  serv'd  their  country,  every  gander 
Should  hiss,  and  spatter  them  with  slander. 

Behold  the  play  wright  Barney  Bid  well,  no 
(And  democrats  declare  he  hid  well) 

HO  Behold  the  play  wright  Barney  Bid  well. 

Mr.  Senator  Bid  well  the  subject  of  the  present  eulogi- 
wm,  exhibited  the  germ  of  those  talents,  which  have  since 
budded,  and  blossomed  and  bloomed  in  the  rankest  lux- 
uriance of  democracy,  in  a  juvenile  production  of  most 
astonishing  ingenuity,  "intitled  and  called  THE  MERCE- 
NARY MATCH."  From  some  specimens  of  that  perform- 
ance with  which  we  have  been  favoured  by  the  Editor  of 
the  Boston  Repertory,  we  are  led  to  suppose  that  the  good 
goddess  of  dullness  could  never  boast  of  a  more  hopeful 
pupil.  A  small  calf  may  make  a  large  bullock,  and  a 
stupid  and  conceited  boy  is  often  matured  to  a  very  know- 
ing demagogue. 


160  MOBOCRACY. 

Has  twisted  into  one  oration,141 
Falsehoods  enough  to  d — n  a  nation. 

But  this  man  lies  to  such  degree  I 
(Forc'd,  ex  necessitate  reiy) 
With  due  civ?ility,  will  strip  him, 
Then  take  and  tie  him  up,  and  whip  him. 

And  I  will  teach  this  Mr.  Barney 
To  cheat  the  people  with  his  blarney > 
And  I  will  teach  him  to  be  plying 
The  dirty  trade  of  party-lying. 

And  first  he  tells  us,  our  Great  Nation 
Was  bom  slap  dash,  by  Declaration 

14  1.  Has  twisted  into  one  oration. 

We  ought,  perhaps,  to  apologise  to  our  readers  for 
troubling  them  with  remarks  on  such  an  insipid  thing  as 
the  harangue  in  question.  But  as  this  production  of  Mr. 
Bidwell  may  serve  as  a  specimen  of  the  general  tenor  of 
the  democratic  Fourth  of  July  speeches  which  have  fallen 
•within  our  notice,  we  hope  that  our  remarks  may  beef 
service  to  such  of  our  young  gentlemen  of  the  New  School 
as  may  be  called  hereafter  to  exhibit  oratorical  talents  on 
any  similar  occasion. 


MOBOCRACY.  161 

Of  Independence,  in  the  day  time, 
Most  vile  economy  ! — in  hay  time  /14S 

What  next  evinces  that  his  knowledge  is 
Enough  to  enter  some  new  Colleges, 

142.  Most  vile  economy ! — in  hay  time  ! 

"  By  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  which  has  just 
been  read,  a  Nation  was  politically  born  in  a  day" 

The  story  of  our  Nation's  being  born  on  the  Fourth  of 
July,  1776,  has  been  told  us  in  prose  and  in  poetry,  times 
without  number.  Mr.  Bidwell  has  added  an  important 
appendage  of  circumstances  ;  and  we  have  taken  the  li- 
berty to  enlarge  further  on  the  phenomena  attending  this 
birth.  In  the  first  place,  we  learn  by  Mr.  B.  that  our  na- 
tion was  born  very  suddenly.  Secondly,  that  in  this 
wonderful  birth,  the  Declaration  of  Independence  acted 
as  accouclicur.  Thirdly,  that  this  was  a  political  birth. 
Fourthly,  that  all  this  was  done  in  a  day.  Fifthly,  that  this 
important  instrument,  or  agent,  or  accoucheur,  hadjitst 
been  read.  Sixthly,  we  have  taken  the  liberty  to  add,  that 
in  such  a  busy  season  of  the  year,  genuine  republican 
economy  should  have  directed  all  these  operations  to 
have  been  performed  in  the  night,  which,  besides  a  sav- 
ing of  time,  would  havesuperadded  the  ad  vantages  of  all 
the  silence  aitd  solemnity  of  a  Virginian  caucus. 
p  2 


J62  MOBOCRACY. 

We  find  him  most,  precisely  showing 
How  long  the  late  war  was  a  going.143 

He  tells  us  even  to  a  minute 
What  time  the  British  did  begin  it ; 
And  likewise,  what  some  don't  remember, 
We  made  a  peace  once,  in  November. 

After  this  flight,  which  most  immense  is, 
Before  you  find  your  scatter'd  senses, 
Behold  our  orator  still  rising, 
To  matter  more  and  more  surprising. 

For  that  in  his  sublime  opinion, 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON  was  a  Virginian!1^ 

143.  How  long  the  late  war  was  a  going. 

"  The  revolutionary  war,"  quoth  Mr.  Bidwell,  "  occupi- 
ed a  little  more  than  seven  years  and  a  half,  from  the  bat- 
tle of  Lexington,  on  the  19th  of  April  1775,  to  the  sign- 
ing provincial  articles  of  peace  on  the  30th  of  November, 
1782.  Highly  IMPORTANT  ! 

144  GEORGE  WASHINGTON  was  a  Virginian. 
"The  British  troops  commenced  actual  hostilities  in 


MOBOCRACY.  163 

Which,  since  'tis  down  in  black  and  white, 
"  I'll  bet  a  beaver  hat"  he's  right. 

One  thing,  by  accident  he  miss'd 
To  state  he  was  a  federalist, 
Possess'd  antipathy,  most  hearty 
To  Barney  Bidwell's  precious  party.145 

April,  1775.  An  army  was  raised  for  defence,  and 
GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  of  Virginia  was  appointed 
commander  in  chief."  Surprising  intelligence ! 

145  To  Barney  Biu  well's  precious  party. 

The  following  extract  of  a  letter  from  General  Wash- 
ington to  Charles  Carrol  of  Maryland,  dated  Moui>t 
Vernon,  August  2,  1798,  several  months  after  passing 
all  those  laws,  wbich  seem  so  obnoxious  to  the  party 
now  in  power,  will  show  what  right  they  have  to  claim 
any  advantage  from  the  popularity  of  his  name. 

"  Although,"  says  Gen.  Washington  "  I  highly  approve 
of  the  measures  taken  by  government,  to  place  this 
country  in  a  posture  of  defence,  and  even  wish  they  had 
been  more  energetic,  and  shall  be  ready  to  obey  its  call 
under  the  reservations  I  have  made,  whenever  it  is  made : 
yet  I  am  not  without  hope,  mad  and  intoxicated  as  the 
French  are,  that  they  will  pause,  before  they  take  the 
last  step.  That  they  have  been  deceived  in  their  calcu- 


164  MOBOCRACY. 

Then  full  of  patriotic  choler, 
He  yells  out  syllables  of  dolour 
Against  your  British  rogues,  who  would 
Have  hungour  best  whigs--if  they  could. I46 

But  carefully  forgets  to  say 
How  Jefferson  had  run  away ; 

lations  on  the  division  of  the  people  and  the  powerful 
support  they  expect  from  their  party  is  reduced  to  a  cer- 
tainty, though  it  is  somewhat  equivocal  still,  whether 
THAT  PARTY,  who  have  been  THE  CURSE  OF  THIS 
SOUNTRY,  and  the  SOURCE  OF  THE  EXPENCES  WE 
HAVE  TO  ENCOUNTER,  may  not  be  able  to  continue 
THSIR  DELUSION.  What  pity  it  is  the  expence  could 
not  be  taxed  upon  them." 

146  Have  hung  our  best  whigs — if  they  could. 

"  With  halters  about  their  necks,  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  set  their  names  to  an  in- 
strument, which  in  case  of  failure,  they  knew  must  be 
their  death  warrant  Yes,  my  friend,  had  the  revolu- 
tion been  crushed,  they  would  have  been  distinguished 
from  common  rebels,  and  signally  executed,  or  exiled." 
Very  true  Mr.  Bidwell,  but  we  shall  see  presently  where 
jour  party"  will  land  with  this  kind  of  reasoning. 


MOBOCRACY.  16* 

How  many  more,  in  whom  he  glories 
Had  sav'd  their  necks  by  being  tories. ur 

He  next  proceeds  like  ignoramus, 
Or  artful  rogue  as  you  could  name  us, 
To  state  the  motives  and  intendments, 
In  constitutional  amendments.148 

147  Had  sav'd  tteir  necks  by  being  tories, 

I  would  not  be  understood  as  intending  to  satirize  the 
tories  as  such.  There  were,  undoubtedly,  many  to- 
ries, who  were  honest  men  and  true  friends  to  their 
country,  but  who  supposed  that  opposition  to  Great- 
Britain  was,  wrong  in  principle,  and  impossible  in  prac- 
tice. But  since  our  democrats  are  stigmatizing  the  fede* 
ralists,  with  this  among  other  unpopular  epithets,  it  be- 
comes necessary  to  repel  the  charge  as  often  as  it  is  made 
or  insinuated.  I  believe  it  will  be  found  difficult  to  find 
any  am  >ng  the  native  Americans,  who  took  an  active 
part  during  the  revolutionary  war  against  their  country, 
who  have  not  since  been  induced,  by  the  same  kind  of 
time-serving  policy,  and  want  of  principle  to  become 
democrat",  and  who,  like  Talleyrand,  or  the  Vicar  of 
Bray  are  not  willing  to  become  any  thing  and  every  thing, 
which  interest  dictates.  See  note  19,  p.  12. 

148  Of  constitutional  amendments. 

Mr.  Bid  we',  I  .iflinns  that  the  amendment  of  the  consti- 
•  ulion,  which  declared  a  state  not  suable  by  a  prirate 


1M  MOBOCRACY. 

Through  labyrinths  of  nonsense  trudges, 
To  fib  about  the  federal  judges,1 69 

citizen,  and  that  which  made  it  necessary  to  designate 
by  electoral  votes  the  distinct  candidates  for  President 
and  Vice  President  were  republican.  If  Mr.  Bidwell 
M-ill  give  the  same  meaning  to  the  term  republican  that 
Buonaparte  has  ever  done,  we  shall  not  dispute  with 
him.  The  republicanism  of  the  latter  is  but  despotism  in 
disguise,  and  that  of  the  former  with  a  proper  analysis 
•will  be  found  to  be  substantially  the  same, 

The  legislature  of  the  state  of  Georgia,  under  shelter 
of  its  inviolability  has  been  guilty  of  a  flagrant  breach  of 
contract — has  burnt  its  records  and  shaken  the  pillars  of 
society  by  striking  at  the  right  of  property.  Similar  cases 
may  again  happen,  and  according  to  Mr.  BidwelPs  re- 
publican amendment,  there  can  no  responsibility  attach 
to  the  violation  of  a  principle,  which  forms  the  basis  of 
civilized  society.  The  other  republican  amendment  opens 
a  wide  door  for  intrigue  and  corruption,  takes  away  a  pow- 
erful check  which  the  smaller  states  possessed  over  the 
larger,  and  flies  directly  in  the  face  of  the  constitution 
as  it  originally  stood. 

The  reasoning  of  Mr.  Tracy  respecting  this  amend- 
ment, (falsely  so  called)  one  would  suppose  was  irresisti- 
ble ;  and  indeed  we  do  not  pretend  to  so  much  charity  as 
not  to  be  induced  to  impeach  the  motives  of  those  State 
cobblers,  who  by  this  and  other  similar  proceedings,  have 
frittered  away  our  Constitution,  and  broken  down  those 
barriers  which,  by  the  wisdom  of  its  framers,  were  de- 
signed to  give  stability  to  society. 


MOBOCRACY.  167 

Proceeds,  adroitly  to  abridge 
The  subtle  speech  of  Breckenridge. 

The  following  extract,  quoted  from  Mr.  Tracy's 
speech  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  upon  this  sub- 
ject, contains  arguments  and  facts,  which  ought  to  have 
been  conclusive  against  this  mischievous  innovation. 

"  The  constitution,  is  nicely  balanced  with  the  Federa- 
tive and  the  popular  principles ;  the  Senate  are  the  guard- 
ians of  the  former,  and  any  pretence  to  destroy  this  ba- 
lance, under  whatever  specious  names  or  pretences  they 
may  be  mentioned  should  be  watched  with  a  jealous  eye. 
Perhaps  a  fair  definition  of  the  constitutional  power  of 
amending  is  that  you  may,  upon  experiment,  so  modify 
the  constitution,  in  its  practice  and  operation  as  to  give  it 
in  its  own  principles  a  more  complete  effect.  But  this  U 
an  attack  upon  a  fundamental  principle,  established  after 
long  deliberation,  and  by  material  concession  :  a  princi- 
ple of  essential  importance  to  the  instrument  itself,  and  an 
attempt  to  wrest  from  the  small  states  a  vented  right ; 
and  by  it  to  increase  the  power  and  influence  of  the  large 
States." 

"  Nothing  can  be  more  obvious  than  the  intention  of 
the  plan,  adopted  by  our  constitution  for  choosing  a  Pre- 
sident. The  Electors  are  to  nominate  two  persons,  of 
whom  they  cannot  know  uhich  will  be  thv  President, 
This  circumstance  not  only  induces  them  to  select  both 
from  the  best  men  ;  but  gives  a  direct  advantage  into  the 
hands  of  the  small  states,  even  in  the  Electoral  choice; 
for  they  can  always  elect  from  the  two  candidates,  set  up 
by  the  Electors  of  large  states,  by  throwing  their  vote* 


168  MOBQCRACY. 

Then  prates  about  each  federal  tax, 
And  dealing  out  his  thumps  and  thwacks. 
Hits  Madison,  a  clever  joke,170    [stroke! 
Right  o'er  the  sconce,   a  knock  down 

upon  their  favorite ;  and  of  course  giving  him  a  majority, 
or  if  the  Electors  of  the  large  states  should  prevent  this  e  f- 
fect  they  can  scatter  their  voles  for  one  candidate,  then  the 
Electors  of  the  small  states  wjuld  have  it  in  their  power 
to  elect  a  Vice  President.  So  that  in  any  event  the  small 
states  will  have  a  considerable  agency  in  the  election. 
But  if  the  discriminating  or  designating  principle  is  car- 
ried, as  contained  in  this  resolution,  the  whole  agency  of 
the  small  states,  in  the  Electoral  choice  of  Chief  Magis- 
trate is  destroyed,  and  their  chance  of  obtaining  a  federa- 
tive choice,  by  states,  if  not  destroyed  is  very  much  di- 
minished." 

1C9  To  fib  about  the  federal  judges. 

Among  the  sophisms  and  misrepresentations  with 
which  this  harrangue  is  teeming,  those  respecting  our 
federal  judges  are  not  the  least  mischievous.  Mr.  Bid- 
u'ell  informs  us  that  "  the  offire  of  an  English  judge  is 
and  always  has  been  repeulable  by  an  act  of  tlu-  Legisla* 
ture."  To  this  we  shall  oppose  the  conclusive  reasoning 
of  General  Hamilton,  taken  from  his  "  Examination  of 
the  President's  Message  at  the  opening  of  Congress  De- 
cember 7.  1801.  than  which  a  more  able  political  tract 
-never  fell  from  tlve  pen  of  a  statesman, 


MOBOCRACY.  160 

The  stamp  act  rails  at,  as  a  horrid 
Thing  with  the  beast's  mark  in  its  forehead, 

«'  One  more  defence  of  this  formidable  claim"  (to 
wit,  of  abolishing  Hie  offices  of  the  FederalJudges)  "  is  at. 
tempted  to  be  drawn  from  the  example  of  the  Judiciary 
establishment  of  Great  Britain.  It  is  observed,  that  this 
establishment,  the  theme  of  copious  eulogy  on  account  of 
the  IndejJttKknce  of  the  Judges,  places  these  officers  on 
a  footing  far  less  firm  than  will  be  that  of  the  Judges  of 
the  United  States,  even  admitting  the  right  of  Congress 
to  abolish  their  offices,  by  abolishing  the  Courts  of  which 
they  are  members :  and  as  one  proof  of  the  assertion,  it  is 
mentioned  that  the  English  Judges  are  removable  by  tl;c 
King,  on  the  address  of  the  two  houses  of  Parliament. 

"  All  this  might  be  very  true,  and  yet  would  prave  noth- 
ing as  to  what  is,  or  ought  to  be  the  construction  of  our 
Constitution  on  this  point.  It  is  plain  from  the  provision 
respecting  compensation  that  the  framers  of  that  Consti- 
tution intended  to  prop  the  independence  of  the  Judges 
beyond  the  precautions  which  have  been  adopted  in 
England  in  respect  to  the  Judges  of  that  country ;  and 
the  intention  apparent  in  this  particular,  i*  an  argument, 
that  the  same  spirit  may  have  governed  other  provisions. 
Cogent  reasons  have  been  assigned,  applicable  to  our  sys- 
tem, and  not  applicable  to  the  British  system,  ft/r  secu- 
ring the  independence  of  our  Judges  against  the  Legisla- 
ture, as  well  as  against  the  Executive  power. 

"  It  is  alleged  that  the  statute  of  Great  Britain  of  the  13 

of  \V  illiam  III.  was  the  mode.-!  from  which  tlvj  framers  of 

Q 


UO  MOBOCRACY. 

Although  'tis  known  to  all  but  asses, 
It  did  not  touch  the  lower  classes.171 

•ur  constitution  copied  the  provisions  for  the  independ- 
ence of  the  Judiciary.  It  is  certainly  true,  that  the  idea 
of  the  tenure  of  office  during  good  behaviour,  found  in 
several  of  our  constitutions,  is  borrowed  from  that  source. 
But  it  is  evident  that  the  framers  of  our  federal  system 
did  not  mean  to  confine  themselves  to  that  mqdel.— Hence 
the  restraint  of  the  legislative  discretion,  as  to  compensa- 
tion ;  hence  the  omission  of  the  provision  for  the  removal 
of  the  judges  by  the  executive,  on  the  application  of  the 
two  branches  of  the  legislature  ;  a  provision,  which  has 
been  imitated  in  some  of  the  state  governments."  See 
No,  17  of  aseries  of  essays  with  the  signature  of  Lucius 
CRASSUS,  originally  published  in  the  Evening  Post,  and 
afterwards  printed  in  a  pamphlet. 

Again,  says  thelearned  orator  Bidwell,  "The  very  act 
creating  the  circuit  courts  expressly  abolished  pre-existing 
courts.*  Yet  it  was  afterwards  contended  that  the  courts 
created  by  that  act  could  not  be  constitutionally  abolish- 
ed." 

The  truth,  however,  is,  that  that  act  did  not  abolish  pre- 
existing courts  in  such  a  way  as  to  affect  the  dignity  or 

*  "  The  act  now  under  consideration  is  a  legislative 
construction  of  this  clause  in  the  constitution,  that  con- 
gress may  abolish  as  well  as  create  these  judicial  officer*  ; 
becaute  it  does  expressly,  in  the  21th  section,  abolith 
ti\e  then  existing  courts  for  the  purpose  of  making  way 
for  the  present." — Breckenridge's  speech. 


MOBOCRACY.  171 

Then  heaps  upon  the  honest  heads 
Of  independent  upright  Feds, 

emoluments  of  the  judges  who  held  offices  under  the  first  es- 
tablishment. The  number  of  the  judges  of  the  supreme 
court  was  to  have  been  reduced  from  six  to  five,  and  the  ac- 
reductkm  was  deferred  to  the  happening  of  a  vacancy. 
But  an  extract  from  Mr.  Morris'  speech  will  exhibit  the 
fallacy  of  Mr.  Bidwell's  reasoning  in  a  point  of  view 
which  cannot  but  be  conclusive  against  him. 

"  Jt  is  said,  that  by  this  law,  the  district  judges  in 
Tennessee  and  Kentucky  are  removed  from  office,  by 
making  them  circuit  judges.  And  again,  that  you  have 
by  law  appointed  two  new  offices,  those  of  the  circuit 
judges,  and  filled  them  by  law,  instead  of  pursuing  the 
modes  of  appointment  prescribed  by  the  constitution. 
It  does  indeed  put  down  the  district  courts,  but  is  so  far 
from  destroying  the  offices  of  district  judges,  that  it  de- 
clares the  persons  filling  those  offices  shall  perform  the 
duty  of  holding  circuit  courts ;  and  so  far  is  it  from  ap- 
pointing circuit  judge*,  that  it  declares  the  circuit  court* 
shall  be  held  by  the  district  judges." 

Mr.  Bidwell  in  the  next  place  is  pleased  to  inform  us, 
that  judges  are  annually  elected  in  Connecticut.  But  he 
docs  not  say  that  such  annual  election  is  brought  about 
by  violating  the  constitution  ;  neither  does  he  say  that  an 
independent  judiciary  would  not  be  a  desideratum  in  that 
state. 

17  )  Hits  Maddison,  a  clever  joke. 

Mr.  Bid  *ll  rails  at  the  federalists  for  levying  direct 
taxes,  complains  of  the  permanent  offices  (contingent  he 


172  MOBOCRACY. 

Whatever  measure  could  be  found, 
With  something  dreadful  in  its  sound. 

should  say)  thereby  created;  and  among  others,  the  land 
tax  is  an  object  of  his  particular  animadversion.  The  act, 
however,  which  imposed  this  terrible  tax,  was  not  altoge- 
ther of  federal  origin;  and  if  there  is  any  odium  to  be  at- 
tached to  that  measure,  (which  I  deny)  our  dcmorrats 
ought,  in  due  degree,  to  suffer.  This  will  appear  from 
the  following  statement,  every  word  of  which  can  be 
abundantly  proved  from  public  documents  : 

"A  committee  of  ways  and  means,  consisting  of  one 
member  of  each  state,  were  appointed  for  the  purpose  of 
devising  the  best  method  of  raising  a  tax.  The  democratic 
gentlemen,  wkh  Mr.  JNladdisonat  their  head,  proposed, 
and  (this  having  become  (he  opinion  of  the  majoril)) 
reported  in  favour  of  a  land  tux,  and  in  tonsccjuc  r.ce  Mr, 
\\olcolt  was  directed  to  frame  a  report  for  that  pin  pose, 
and  present  it  at  the  next  session  of  congress,  when  are- 
port  was  accepted  in  favour  of  the  land  tax.  Mr.  Madcli- 
son,  whose  measure  it  was  considered  to  be,  was  the  man 
who  particularly  appeared  on  the  floor  as  its  defender  and 
supporter.  It  is  likewise  a  fact,  that  Mr.  Gallalin,  in  his 
book  of  finances,  has  expressly  n  commended  a  land  tax 
to  the  adminibtratuJn."  New-York  Ei'cning  Pest,  July 
15,  1803. 

171  It  did  not  touch  the  poorer  classes. 

Nothing  can  prove  more  effectually  the  influence  of 
names,  abstracted  from  the  things  which  they  represent, 
than  the  circumstance  ^f  the.  federal  stamp  act  having 


MOBOCRACY.  173 

At  length  winds  up  with  such  a  series 
Of  wicked  and  deceptive  queries,  172 

been  obnoxious  to  the  middling,  and  lower  classes  of  the 
American  people.  Farmers  and  mechanics,  who  perhaps 
would  not  be  liable  to  pay  a  cent  a  year,  were  prevailed 
upon  by  demagogues  to  be  very  much  alarmed  at  the 
idea  of  this  tax  being  something  dreadful  in  its  nature 
and  tendency, — something  like  the  old  British  stamp  act, 
in  which,  not  the  tax  itself,  but  the  right  to  impose  it  wai 
the  object  of  dispute.  Too  many  well  meaning  men 
were  prodigiously  frighted  at  the  idea  of  the  stamp  act 
being  the  harbinger  of  Federal  Monarchy,  or  some  other 
sort  of  incomprehensible  tyranny.  They  therefore  op^ 
posed  this  terrible  measure,  and  were  indulged  with 
taxes  on  brown  sugar,  salt  and  bohea  tea,  in  its  stead,  by 
which  a  revenue  is  derived  altogether  from  the  middling 
and  lower  classes.  This  looks  as  if  it  might  be  possible 
for  the  people  to  be  "  their  own  worst  enemies." 

172  Of  wicked  and  deceptive  queries. 

We  shall  not  fatigue  our  readers,  with  a  repetition  of 
those  queries.  They  are  in  substance  merely  inquiries 
whether  the  people  of  the  United  States  would  be  pleased 
with  the  reradoption  of  the  same  measures  which  former- 
ly characterised  the  federal  administration?  Whether  a 
land  tax,  excise  law,  a  standing  army,  &c.  &c.  would  be 
again  submitted  to  by  the  citizens  of  the  United  States? 

To  this  \ve  might  answer  in  a  word  :  Similar  circum- 
stances might  render  similar  measures  not  only  advisable, 

q.2 


174  MOBOCRACY. 

That  all  must  own  this  son  of  slander 
Well  fitted  for  his  party's  pander. 

Honestus  joins  in  dismal  tone,n* 
And  howls  about  a  dreadful  loan, 
In  which  the  Fed'ral  Government 
Gave  no  less  sum  than  eight  percent.17* 

but  indispensable  to  preserve  our  independence  as  a  na- 
tion. If  a  Gallatin  should  organize  an  insurrection  ;  if  a 
Gal lo- American  faction  should  form  a  league  with  Buona- 
parte, or  a  French  ambassador,  aided  by  wrong-headed 
and  treacherous  A mericans.  should  attempt  to  prostrate 
our  country  at  the  foot  of  France  ;  if  Great-Britain  or 
France  should  fijid  leisure  from  their  own  disputes  to  com- 
mit depredations  on  our  commerce,  we  shall  be  under 
the  necessity  of  again  recurring  to  federal  men,  and  fede- 
ral measures,  or  resign  our  honour,  our  respectability, 
tindprobably,  our  independence  as  a  nation. 

173.  Honestus  joins  in  dismal  tone. 

One  of  the  proprietors,  and  the  principal  writer  in  the 
Boston  Chronicle,  assumes  the  signature  of  Honestus. 

174.  Gave  no  less  sum  than  eight  per  cent. 

This  loan  which  has  occasioned  so   much   clamour 
among  our  demagogues,  was  rendered  necessary  by  the 


MOBOCRACY.  \7S 

Though  well  the  said  Honest  us  knows 
From  what  necessity  it  rose, 
And  had  foundation,  in  reality, 
From  his  dear  party's  own  rascality. 

He  knows  peculiar  exigencies 
Led  to  great  national  expences, 
And  that  this  loan  at  its  creation 
Received  our  best  men's  approbation. 

He  knows  that  Washington  declar'd 
Those  great  expences  should  be  shar'd 
Among  such  fellows  as  Honestus 
And  others  like  him,  who  infest  us.175 

dangers  which  threatened  us  from  France,  and  from  the 
expences  of  Gallatin's  insurrection.  A  committee  of  con- 
gress, who  were,  no  doubt,  nearly  as  competent  to  judge 
of  this  business  as  Mr.  Honestus,  with  the  concurrence  of 
Mr.  Nicholson,  and  other  democrats,  unanimously  re- 
ported that  they  saw  "  no  reason  to  doubt  that  these  loans 
were  negociated  on  the  best  terms  which  could  be  procur- 
ed, and  with  a  laudable  view  to  the  public  interest." 

175.  And  others  like  him,  who  infest  us. 

In  proof  of  this  assertion,  we  would  refer  to  General 
"Washington's  letter  to  Mr.  Carrol.  Seepage  163- 


176  MOBOCRACY. 

Yet  still  this  creature's  always  carping, 
The  self  same  tune  for  ever  harping. 
And  has  a  deal  of  mischief  done, 
As  drops  perpetual  wear  a  stone. 

Thus  have  our  Fed'ral  men  been  branded 
By  artful  modes,  and  underhanded, 
And  slander'd  in  a  way  surpassing 
The  cruelty  of  an  assassin. — 

By  vile  imported  convicts  goaded, 

Harrass'd,  with  ignominy  loaded. 

By  imputation,  oftentimes 

With  weight  of  their  opponent's  crimes.1"* 

176  With  weight  of  their  opponents  crimes. 

Pre-eminently  hard  is  the  fate  of  federalism,  and  sad  is 
the  destiny  of  the  followers  of  Washington,  in  being  stig. 
matized  with  the  crimes  of  their  opponents,  and  criminat- 
ed for  the  misfortunes  and  expenses  which  were  the  ne- 
cessary result  of  the  conduct  of  their  political  adversaries. 
Virginian  delinquency  caused  great  depredations  on  our 
commerce,  and  this  was  imputed  to  federalism.  Demo- 
crats  organized  a  whiskey  insurrection,  which  caused  great 
national  expenses,  these  too  were  said  to  be  the  conse- 
quence of  federalism.  The  domineering  views  of  France, 


MOBOCRACY.  177 

But  look  at  ev'ry  Fed'ral  measure 
Which  has  incurr'd  such  high  displeasure, 
And  there's  not  one  which  you  can  men- 
But  pleads  at  least  a  good  intention,  [tion, 

Have  they  their  private  interests  furthered 
That  now  their  reputation's  murther'd  ? 
And  have  they  not  'mid  party-war 
Made  public  good  their  polar  star  ? 

It  must  be  own'd  that  their  political 
Career  was  not  a  little  critical  j 
Such  times  our  land  would  overwhelm, 
If  democrats  had  been  at  helm. 

It  must  be  own'd  whate'er  they've  done 
Was  sanction'd  by  our  Washington, 

aided  by  the  French  faction  in  this  country,  in  the  opinion 
of  Washington,  Adams,  and  the  other  sages  and  patriots 
who  at  that  time  directed  our  councils,  rendered  a  provi- 
sional i.i  my  necessary.  This  too  was  the  sin  of  federalism. 
But 

"Troy  yet  in  ly  wake,  atone  avenging  blow, 
Groan  the  dire  authors  of  their  country's  woe." 


178  MOBOCRACT. 

And  be  allow'd  as  no  less  true 
HE  had  no  private  ends  in  view. 

Though  many  a  rogue  belonging  unto 
The  hireling  Jeffersonian  junto, 
Has  boldly  said,  but  saying  lied, 
OUR  WASHINGTON  was  on  their  side  ! — 

Yet  he  abhorr'd  them,  and  what  worse  is, 
Denounc'd  them  as  our  nation's  curses, 
But  gave  his  strongest  approbation 
To  Adams's  administration. 

And  each  and  all  the  accusations 
Of  Federal  crimes  and  peculations, 
Their  adversaries  knew  full  well 
Were  lies  malicious,  false  as  h-11. 

If  such  must  be  the  modes  that  our 
Great  men  must  ivriggle  into  pow'r, 
Our  government  will  prove  a  curse 
Than  that  of  Algiers  ten  times  worse  : — 

Until  a  tyrant  of  a  king, 

An  emperor,  or  some  such  thing, 


MOBOCRACY.  179 

And  he  the  essence  of  the  devil 
Become  a  necessary  evil.177  • 

177  Become  a  necessary  evil. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  faction,  which  has  built  itself 
up  on  the  ruins  of  the  Washington  and  Adams'  adminis- 
trations, have  been  clamorous  in  their  complaints  against 
the  federalists,  for  their  pretended  predilection  to  monar- 
chy. Treatises  written  expressly  in  favour  of  the  Ameri- 
can government,  and  of  the  republican  constitutions  of  the 
several  states  have  been  tortured  into  meanings  quite 
foreign  from  the  ideas  of  their  authors,  in  order  to  suit  the 
nefarious  purposes  of  unprincipled  partizans.  Private 
conversation,  uttered  in  moments  of  conviviality,  has  been 
reported  and  misrepresented,  with  all  the  artifice  of  the 
most  malicious  ingenuity.  Still  we  are  not  informed  of 
any  thing  more  having  escaped  the  lips  of  any  of  the  lead- 
ing federal  characters  than  general  expressions  of  appre- 
hcneion,  lest  this  government  should  degenerate  through 
anarchy  to  despotism ;  and  the  hon.  Fisher  Ames,  who 
stands  among  the  most  prominent  of  these  pretended 
monarchy-loving  men,  has  declared  in  substance,  that  if 
monarchy  should  ever  be  established  in  this  country,  it 
will  be  the  work  of  the  jacobins. 


END    OF    THE    FIRST    VOLUME. 


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